Chapter Text
“Nee-chan promised to pick me up and show me something special today! You worry too much, Iwa-chan, just go,” Oikawa grinned, attempting to pull his alien-patterned beanie further down to cover his ears but failing, the mass of brown hair on his head causing the beanie to slide back up each time.
Iwaizumi held back a snort as Oikawa tried not to shiver in the cool air, giving him a light punch in the arm, as the tree branches nearby swayed slightly with the wind. “If you insist, Shittykawa.”
“Mean as usual,” Oikawa pouted as Iwaizumi smiled, moving towards his mum, who was standing by the school gates with her usual look of amusement at the antics of the two boys, the Iwaizumi family car sitting behind her.
“Don’t complain about getting sick when you’re the one choosing to stay out here!” Oikawa pulled his tongue out at Iwaizumi in response.
“Says the one who was in bed all weekend because he caught the flu!”
Iwaizumi let Oikawa have the last word as he reached the car, leaping into the warmth it offered. He looked out through the window once the door was closed, where Oikawa was waving his gloved hand in farewell, mouthing words that Iwaizumi knew said “Bye, Iwa-chan!”
Iwaizumi kept staring at Oikawa, attempting to look as displeased as possible, but deep down enjoying the antics of his best friend. He kept staring until his mum started the engine and starting driving, Oikawa fading from his sight.
That was the last time that Iwaizumi Hajime saw Oikawa Tooru alive, and it would be a memory that haunted him for the next ten years.
What if Iwaizumi had forced Oikawa to go home with him that day?
Iwaizumi waited anxiously outside the entrance of the library, staring as the second hand of his watch ticked closer to twelve. He gripped the handle of his backpack tightly, trying not to overthink the situation that he was about to throw himself into. He reminded himself that yes, he was a 3rd year maths major at Tokyo University, one of the most prestigious universities in Japan, that he had successfully looked over the content he was going to run through today, and no, he definitely was not going to be surprised by any ten-year-old in his area of speciality. Definitely not.
Iwaizumi clung firmly onto this belief, repeating it as a mantra several times in his head as a young boy with a fully shaved head and his tall, stern faced father beside him carrying a briefcase approached him. He could do this. He willed himself to remember the determination he had when he set his New Year’s resolutions, vowing to try new things, interact with people, and actually enjoy his life. He could not keep wallowing in the emptiness that he had let take over at the start of middle school, an emptiness he still wasn’t sure of the origins of. How tutoring ten-year-olds for a decent sum of money fell directly into his resolutions Iwaizumi was not one hundred percent certain, but it was something new he was doing, and at least he was using his social skills to interact with someone, even though they may have been just a kid he was tutoring.
“Iwaizumi-san?” Iwaizumi released his grip from the handle of his backpack, looking away from his watch and acknowledging the father as he approached him with a slight nod.
“And you are Yamada-san?” Iwaizumi asked for confirmation, breathing deeply to ease his nerves.
"Correct." Iwaizumi and Yamada bowed to each other in greeting, the child next to Yamada also bowing shyly. “As discussed in our phone conversation earlier, this is my son Takeru, who is in need of a hand in maths right now. Takeru, this is Iwaizumi-sensei.”
Iwaizumi noted the grimace on Takeru’s face as he was introduced and made eye contact with Iwaizumi for the first time. “Pleasure to meet you, Iwaizumi-sensei.” His voice was less than enthusiastic, as a small part of Iwaizumi cringed inside from a challenge he was now anticipating.
Yamada pulled out an A4-sized yellow envelope from the briefcase he was carrying, handing it to Iwaizumi. “These are Takeru’s maths exams from last year. Please go over them, as well as well the initial grade 6 content we discussed on the phone. Drop Takeru back home at the address I have specified in my message in time for dinner around seven pm. Does this work for you, Iwaizumi-san?”
“Yes it does, Yamada-san. Your son is in good hands with me.” Iwaizumi took the envelope from Yamada, grateful it was not extraordinarily thick. Yamada turned his attention back to Takeru.
“Make sure you study hard and listen to Iwaizumi-sensei, Takeru. I will not tolerate your nonsense for much longer.” The second sentence was said in a threatening whisper, intended for Takeru’s ears only, and Iwaizumi did his best to pretend that he didn’t hear, feeling awkward. Yamada left without a word, leaving Takeru standing awkwardly in the middle of the pathway leading to the library entrance.
Iwaizumi approached Takeru, mentally running through the best possible ways to establish a suitable teacher/student relationship with him. He settled for getting Takeru as comfortable as possible with him, motioning for Takeru to follow him into the library, who did so quietly. Iwaizumi led Takeru to the back of the library, where he opened the door to a private room that he had booked earlier.
“Come in, Takeru,” Iwaizumi invited, as Takeru stood awkwardly at the entrance. “I’m not as scary as I look.” Iwaizumi did his best to look as unintimidating as possible by giving Takeru a joking smile as he took off his backpack, for once thankful he was not ridiculously tall. There wasn’t much he could do to hide the outline of his arm muscles visible through his coat, having been too lazy to get a replacement coat despite the fact that the one he wore was continuously getting tighter.
Takeru let out a soft laugh, his blank face changing for the first time since Iwaizumi met him. He walked into the room, closing the door behind him and sat down in the free seat next to Iwaizumi. He seemed to have relaxed further at the sight of Iwaizumi’s backpack, where a small Godzilla key chain hung from the zipper. Iwaizumi pulled out the maths papers from the envelope, lying them on the table, then bent over to his backpack where he pulled out a maths textbook. Turning to Takeru, he motioned to the two piles on the desk with his hands.
“What do you feel like first? If we get through the explanations quickly enough we can go grab a snack together before working on more problems.”
Takeru’s eyes lit up at the mention of food, Iwaizumi silently applauding his bribery strategy to both motivate and get Takeru comfortable with him. “You’re not as boring as I thought for someone dad picked.” Takeru picked up the pile of maths papers and handed them to Iwaizumi. “Let’s go.”
After about two hours of diligent tutoring with Takeru, where his fears of total disobedience were laid to rest as Takeru listened closely and learnt from his mistakes, Iwaizumi felt his stomach growl, hearing a corresponding growl from Takeru several seconds later. They both laughed, careful to keep the volume down.
“Would you be up for a quick snack?” Iwaizumi asked, petting his coat pockets to ensure his wallet was safely secured.
“Anything?” There was a hopeful lilt to Takeru’s question as he laid the pencil he was using down onto the desk.
“Within reason.” Takeru looked as if he wanted to pout, before his expression brightened up.
“The McDonalds down the road! Is that ok? Dad normally never lets me go there.”
Iwaizumi weighed up the relative pros and cons to taking his student to an unhealthy, fast food outlet that clearly had been avoided by their parents, before deciding that one burger wouldn’t hurt. Ignorance is bliss, so they say, and Takeru’s enthusiasm was contagious.
“Yeah, that works.” Takeru raised his fists in celebration.
“Thank you Iwaizumi-sensei! Actually, you’re pretty cool…can I call you Iwa-sensei instead?”
Iwaizumi stiffened, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu, echoes from the past reverberating through his mind.
“Iwa-chan! Iwa-chan! Did you see the alien special? Iwa-channnnn!”
Iwaizumi was lost in his thoughts for several seconds before registering Takeru’s grinning face. He didn’t have the heart in him to decline, and forced himself away from the thoughts currently distracting him. Tutoring and getting out was his new resolution for a reason. It was time to stick to it and stop worrying about things that could not be changed.
“Not in front of your parents.” That was the closest to a yes that Iwaizumi was willing to concede to Takeru. Takeru’s smile grew even wider, revealing that he was missing one of his front teeth.
After a quick clean-up of their workspace, where Takeru insisted on bringing his backpack along, Iwaizumi and Takeru left the stuffy atmosphere of the library and took in deep breaths of the cooler air that surrounded them. They moved out of the quiet lane where the library resided, and onto the louder, bustling main road where the McDonalds was located.
Takeru walked alongside Iwaizumi, grinning at the prospect of a snack and accidentally whacking Iwaizumi with his backpack in his excitement. Iwaizumi made sure he moved and walked on Takeru’s right, subconsciously feeling the need to place himself as a barrier between the busy main road to the right, and the joyfully grinning child to his left. With every car that drove past Iwaizumi could feel his coat flapping against his leg. He was also aware of the tell-tale signs of an argument coming from a group of teenagers standing fairly closely to the edge of the road, and Iwaizumi could not keep the scowl off his face as he walked past. Takeru too could not resist a curious second glance at the group, where the noise from the argument had risen past a generally accepted level, however a quick look ahead revealed a distant McDonalds sign about fifty metres away, quickly stealing back his focus.
“Iwa-sensei, I see it!” he yelled, grabbing Iwaizumi’s wrist and attempting to pull him forward. Iwaizumi stumbled slightly, noticing the sign and fully focusing his attention on Takeru, away from the faint sounds of the bickering teenagers behind him.
“One burger only,” Iwaizumi said firmly, making sure that Takeru did not run too far ahead of him. There was a challenging look in Takeru’s eyes that Iwaizumi did not like, before his attention was drawn to a faint crackling noise that sent shivers of déjà vu down his spine. Stopping suddenly, Iwaizumi frantically tried to take in as much of the scenery as he could, trying to identify the trigger for the Revival about to happen, registering the faint sound of screaming and the sudden absence of traffic beside him before-
A glowing turquoise butterfly fluttered lazily to his right, leaving behind a faint trail of what looked to be turquoise glitter. Iwaizumi felt his entire body go numb for a second, before blinking and finding himself approximately one hundred metres further up the street. He didn’t have any time to react before Takeru’s backpack slammed into his chest, with Takeru too caught up in his excitement to notice. Revival. Not again.
Revival was the constant, unwanted companion stuck by Iwaizumi’s side that forced him to act when in reality, he just wanted to mind his own business. The first time it happened, Iwaizumi truly believed that he had gone insane. Over a decade of practice later, Iwaizumi had the clear next steps of actions imprinted into his brain, scanning his surroundings for anything that looked out of place.
“Iwa-sensei?”
“Takeru, is there anything that looks out of place to you?” Iwaizumi stopped walking, Takeru turning back curiously at the question.
“Out of place?” Iwaizumi realised his question had been a bit vague as he continued scanning his surroundings, his heartbeat racing at the prospect of the event he knew would imminently occur if he did not prevent it.
“Something that could cause an accident maybe?” Takeru started scanning his surroundings, still looking confused. Takeru’s attention was drawn to the loud noise of an argument between a group of teenagers down the road. He waved to get Iwaizumi’s attention, before pointing towards the group.
“They’re being really loud. I don’t think they should be that loud right?”
Iwaizumi remembered walking past that same group the first time, and giving them a scowl, both from the noise they were making, and their proximity to the edge of the road. As he looked closer, he noticed one of the taller teenagers involved in the argument, distinctive by his red jumper, moving his arms madly as he yelled. This could be it.
Iwaizumi started running down the footpath, dodging the people in his way if possible, as Takeru behind him struggled to keep up. As Iwaizumi started making out a few fragments of the heated discussion going on, the teenager with the red jumper made his wildest swing yet, his target, a shorter teenager with short spiked hair, leapt backward to avoid it-
“WATCH OUT!” Iwaizumi yelled, drawing the gaze of onlookers and cutting the argument short, as the spiked hair teenager fell directly into the path of an oncoming car. The sickening crunch of the teenager colliding with the bonnet of the car drew the attention of all nearby bystanders, as the teenager was thrown into the air, and into the path of another passing car. The sudden squeal of brakes highlighted the awareness of drivers to the accident, but it was obvious that the damage had already been done. Hit by two cars moving at the speed limit, Iwaizumi did not need to approach any further to know that the spiked hair teenager was dead, lying in a pool of his blood.
The screams started, panicked bystanders moving rapidly and shoving Iwaizumi roughly against the crowd. Iwaizumi’s eyes were drawn to the fallen teenager, chest heaving and tight from the sudden loss of life. But it was a scene that was not completely unfamiliar with him, and this time when he heard the crackling behind him and saw the flash of turquoise, Iwaizumi embraced the immobilising numbness that spread throughout his body.
He was back at the start of the loop again, Takeru’s backpack slamming forcefully into his chest again. Iwaizumi acted immediately, firmly grabbing Takeru’s wrist as the boy let out an exclamation of surprise, and walked directly towards the loud group of teenagers bickering down the road.
“Iwa-sensei?” Takeru exclaimed in shock, stumbling against the crowd as he kept up with Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi threw him his most serious expression, Takeru closing his mouth in surprise, as Iwaizumi walked straight into the group of arguing teenagers.
“What’s going on here?” Iwaizumi demanded, tilting his head slightly, putting on his best practiced scowl, and thankful for the hours at the gym that gave him enough muscles to pass for intimidating if required. The teenager with the red jumper looked at Iwaizumi with a disdainful look, eyes passing over Takeru standing nervously behind Iwaizumi, and smirked.
“This is none of your business, daddy,” he sneered, looking back at the spiked hair teenager with amusement and anger, before suddenly throwing a roundhouse punch. It was as if time moved in slow motion. Iwaizumi knew that the spiked hair teen would dodge by stepping backward, not realising that he was already standing on the edge of the footpath. Iwaizumi lunged forward, ignoring the sudden gasp of surprise from the other teenagers around him, and grabbed the first body part that flailed in front of his face. He pulled the spiky haired teen forward towards the footpath, just as the same car that had previously hit him the first time whizzed by.
The car disappeared as quickly as it came, another car following closely behind it. The group of teenagers looked at the road with shock, with both the red jumper and spiked hair teenagers staring with particularly wide eyes. They both knew what would have happened had Iwaizumi not reached out and pulled the teenager away from the road.
“Kirihata, sorry, I didn’t mean to-” The look on the teenager’s face morphed into one of apology, body tense.
“Just leave it,” the spiked hair teenager panted out, slowly pulling himself up from his fallen position on the footpath. “We’re good, ok?” Iwaizumi stepped back, intending to leave with his role in this incident over, but the spiked hair teenager grabbed his shoulder.
“Thanks, I don’t know what would’ve happened otherwise.”
Iwaizumi stared down at the group, disapproval clear on his face. “Don’t argue about stupid things, and particularly don’t do it next to the road!”
The teenagers nodded silently, shuffling away from the edge of the road, their original argument forgotten as they realised how off track their discussion had gone. With a final nod, and bows in some cases, the teenagers left, walking in the opposite direction to the McDonalds that had been Iwaizumi’s original goal.
“You’re so cool, Iwa-sensei. Just saving the guy like that, BAM!” Takeru mimicked the pulling motion that Iwaizumi had pulled when saving the spiked hair teenager, as Iwaizumi motioned for him to keep walking. “Your face was scary too!”
“I didn’t have much choice, Takeru,” Iwaizumi replied, thoughts slightly lost as he recalled previous instances of preventing fatal events. A gas leak at a party. Overcrowding at a train station. Even a case of child abduction once. Preventing a simple stumble onto a road was probably one of the easier things he had encountered lately, but it was not something he was going to admit out loud to Takeru. “Let’s just get our snacks from McDonalds, alright?”
“I want a Big Mac!”
Iwaizumi felt himself smile again. Hanging out with cheerful people was definitely contagious.
On arrival at McDonalds, Iwaizumi motioned to Takeru to find a free table, before walking to the nearest queue and waiting to place their orders. He returned several minutes later to the sight of Takeru nearly bouncing off his seat in excitement, eyeing the burgers and fries sitting on the tray that Iwaizumi was carefully manoeuvring to their table.
"Is that my Big Mac?" Iwaizumi resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he handed the burger over to Takeru, who unwrapped and attacked it without a second thought. Grabbing and unwrapping his own Big Mac, Iwaizumi was content to eat in silence, watching Takeru eat with a sense of amusement. He wondered what it would be like to have a younger sibling to look after, to spoil, and to take onto McDonalds runs.
“Thank you.” It was soft, and compared to the excited sentences that Takeru let out earlier, serious.
Iwaizumi stopped mid-chew, looking back at Takeru curiously. “For what?” he asked around a mouthful of food.
Takeru gently dropped the scrunched up Big Mac wrapper on the tray, burger fully consumed. “For this. And being cool. You remind me of my real mum. She would take me out to McDonalds sometimes after school.”
Iwaizumi swallowed the remainder of the food in his mouth, suddenly feeling on edge from the turn the conversation was taking. He took a sip from the cup of Coke he had ordered with his meal to soothe his suddenly dry throat.
“Your real mum?” he blurted out against his better instinct. He had seen the tension between Takeru and his dad, and did not expect at the time to be engaged in discussion about it.
“She lives in Miyagi.” Takeru picked up the discarded Big Mac wrapper, only to drop it down on the tray again. Iwaizumi was startled by the name of the city that he had grown up in, and promptly left at the first opportunity. “Sometimes she gets so sad that she locks herself in that room upstairs and doesn’t come down for a few days, but other times we have so much fun, just me, mum, grandma.”
Iwaizumi grabbed one of the remaining French fries, using it as a distraction to maintain his neutral expression. He thought back to his childhood in Miyagi, ten years ago, to any whispers he had heard about new babies being born. There had been one, just one that he recalled, and that was because the bearer of the news had wasted no opportunities in telling Iwaizumi about how he was going to be the best uncle in the world soon.
“After grandma fell down the stairs, they said mum couldn’t look after me alone, and contacted my dad.” At this Takeru frowned, poking the Big Mac wrapper around the tray with his finger. “And now I’m stuck alone in Tokyo, and he hasn’t let me see mum in ages.”
Iwaizumi stayed silent, unable to speak. Part of his thoughts had gone back into the past he avoided thinking about, to the days when things were simpler, were happier. To the genuine laughter that surrounded Iwaizumi, to the whining that seemed never ending, but also to the clear determination that lit a fire to anyone that met with it. Just like Takeru, it seemed that Iwaizumi had lost an important part of himself back in Miyagi, but unlike Takeru, it was permanent. The dead stayed dead, no matter how much one screamed, or prayed, something that Iwaizumi was forced to confront at a young age.
“He even made me change my name, Iwa-sensei, my name!” Takeru flicked the wrapper off the table in annoyance, watching absently as it rolled weakly across the floor. “It would’ve been annoying if you called me Yamada-kun because sometimes I don’t even realise that my classmates were talking to me, but you didn’t.”
Iwaizumi was drawn back to reality by Takeru’s ever increasing tone, and the serious and frustrated look in his eyes a ten-year-old should not need to use. Now would have been the best time to conclude their snack time, and walk back to the library and finish off what needed to be done, but there was one question on Iwaizumi’s mind that he needed to ask, a question that he could not just ignore. There was something he needed to confirm to ease his raging thoughts.
“What was your name?”
"My name is-” Takeru paused, eyes determined, boring into Iwaizumi’s. “-Oikawa Takeru. It's a pleasure to meet you." It was with a tone of satisfaction, but with an undertone of sadness that Takeru replied, bowing his head as if he had just met Iwaizumi for the first time, and feeling it could be the last time he was ever able to introduce himself to someone with that name.
Iwaizumi’s heart clenched, suspicions confirmed. Takeru was living, breathing evidence of the consequences that occurred because Iwaizumi that cold winter’s day, had not forced his best friend to come into the car with him. Because Iwaizumi had left him waiting there alone, by the school gates. Iwaizumi had been the last person to see him alive, and became the first to find him dead.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you too,” Iwaizumi found himself saying finally, an automatic response to introductions, mind lost hundreds of kilometres away, attempting to escape from the memories that tried to swarm his mind. “I think it’s time we headed back.”
Takeru nodded in agreement, cleaning up their meal from McDonalds. It was with a subdued, but determined mood that they both worked through the content that had to be completed by the seven pm deadline, Takeru occasionally taking the initiative when Iwaizumi got too lost in his thoughts. With the content successfully covered by six-thirty, Iwaizumi had an easy thirty minutes to get Takeru back home, grabbing his stationary and textbook and roughly shoving it into his bag.
"All packed?" Iwaizumi asked, giving the library room one look. Despite the conversation earlier in the afternoon that gave Iwaizumi one too many reminders of his childhood, he also felt light, lighter than he had in a long time. Iwaizumi came to the realisation that he had enjoyed the tutoring session with Takeru, enjoyed going through the maths and showing someone else how to enjoy the subject. Maths had always been an enjoyable subject, a clean escape, and it didn’t let him down, even when his role had swapped from student to teacher. Would he be willing to keep teaching the kid? For sure.
“I’m done,” Takeru replied, hoisting his backpack onto his back, but wearing a similarly blank expression to the one he was wearing when he first met Iwaizumi earlier that day. There wasn’t much that Iwaizumi could do at this point, even with the knowledge of what was troubling Takeru.
The drive to Takeru’s house was mostly silent, with Takeru alternating between staring out the window, and closing his eyes and taking a short nap. The energy that he had displayed earlier seemed to have faded at the prospect of returning home. Iwaizumi glanced at him, wondering how to cheer the boy up.
“I’ll be around all year to beat maths into your brain,” Iwaizumi said jokingly, keeping an eye out for Takeru’s reaction. “We can do snack runs each time if you do well.” Takeru straightened up, giving Iwaizumi a blinding smile so familiar that it had to be a genetic Oikawa thing.
“Hahaha, of course Iwa-sensei!” Takeru leaned his head back again, returning to his observation of his surroundings, but with a slight smile on his face. He remained silent for several minutes, slight smile still on his face, until he suddenly jolted forward, staring out at the front of the car in horror.
“Iwa-sensei!” Takeru yelled in a panic, noticing the small pale blur that appeared out of nowhere and directly into the path of Iwaizumi’s car. Iwaizumi slammed his foot onto the brake, wheels protesting loudly as the car lurched into a sudden stop, but not before a sudden jump had Iwaizumi gripping the steering wheel tightly, and indicating that his car had run over something. Both Iwaizumi and Takeru were thrown forward by the recoil from the sudden braking, seatbelts slamming them roughly back into their seats. Once the car was finally still, Iwaizumi looked towards Takeru with concern, taking in the boy’s heavy panting, and wide, staring eyes.
“Takeru, are you ok?” There were no visible signs of injury, however Iwaizumi was also worried about how Takeru’s parents would react if he bought him home shell-shocked.
“I’m fine,” Takeru said in a small voice. He attempted to twist around in his seat and look out the back window, however the seat belt that was still buckled in prevented him from doing so. Taking the hint, Iwaizumi unbuckled his seat belt and took out his smartphone, activating the flash light app.
“I’ll take a look,” Iwaizumi said firmly, correctly guessing that Takeru wanted to find out what they had run over. Takeru nodded, his heavy breathing slowing down, as Iwaizumi opened the car door and turned his phone around experimentally, bright light illuminating the darkness.
He picked up the trail of blood immediately behind the back of his car, torch following the smear down the road. Iwaizumi followed the trail down the road, finally stopping at the remnants of a small animal, likely a rabbit. At the very least, considering the size of the mammal, it was unlikely that there would be any damage to his car, although Iwaizumi felt a twinge of guilt for the life of the rabbit that he had just stolen.
Turning away, Iwaizumi started to head back towards his car before noticing a flash of something white highlighted on the edge of the road. Focusing his torch, Iwaizumi walked towards the object until he was close enough to see that it was a plastic dog kennel, metal door ajar.
Iwaizumi frowned, stepping closer to analyse the kennel further. The outside of the kennel looked pristine, like it had only been placed there recently. It was empty on the inside apart from a few brown dots that littered the base, dots that Iwaizumi realised were rabbit droppings. Rabbits were uncommon in urban areas such as Tokyo, and Iwaizumi felt his heart rate pick up as he made the connection between the dead rabbit and the cage.
There was a faint noise up ahead that sounded like a car door being roughly slammed shut. Startled, Iwaizumi jumped and turned away from the empty kennel, running back towards his car, which was where he had left it several minutes prior, but Iwaizumi’s heart rate refused to calm down for some reason.
“Takeru, it was just a rabbit,” he said, approaching the door to Takeru’s seat before freezing in shock. The only thing he could hear was the rapid pounding of his heart thumping in his ears as he registered the sight in front of him. No. Not again.
The water was icy cold but Hajime did not care, cradling the still figure in his arms, buoyed slightly by the water, chocolate-coloured hair a sprawled mess. His brown eyes were wide, still, staring at nothing -
Takeru’s head was leaning to the side, arms splayed across both sides of the seat. His brown eyes were wide open, cheeks wet with tears, mouth open in an attempt to yell, and his chest unmoving.
Hajime shook the figure roughly in his arms, it had to be a joke, because there was no way that he was dead, it was definitely just a bad dream –
“Takeru!” Iwaizumi pulled opened the car door, shaking Takeru roughly as his panic rose, the shaking in his arms nearly uncontrollable as he attempted to find the pulse on Takeru’s still-warm neck with his hands. “Takeru!” He couldn’t feel anything that felt remotely like life, and shook Takeru weakly in an attempt to rouse him. “Takeru!” He noted the dark red marks that littered Takeru’s neck, his broken fingernails, Takeru’s terrified frozen face –
He didn’t move no matter how hard Hajime shook him, no matter the amount of water he splashed around from his frantic movements. His chocolate-brown eyes continued staring into nothingness, as Hajime starting screaming and screaming from despair –
Iwaizumi struggled to breathe as he tore himself away from Takeru, sliding down the side of the car, gripping his head roughly as the images he tried so hard to repress, to keep locked up, forced itself to the forefront of his mind. He registered the sound of approaching sirens, the dark silhouettes that signalled that he was no longer alone, and a strange noise he eventually registered as screaming.
Iwaizumi pushed himself away from his car, stumbling, he just needed to get away, far away from those brown, unstaring eyes. He struggled to keep the image separate from another pair of unstaring brown eyes, struggled to separate the sensations of shaking another completely still, completely dead ten-year-old body. Iwaizumi ran, feeling nauseous, not knowing where he was running, but not caring, he just needed to get away, away from the dead Oikawas that penetrated his thoughts, his visions, his everything.
There was a faint crackling as the familiar glowing turquoise butterfly appeared, leaving a shimmery trail of turquoise lights in its wake, and Iwaizumi let the familiar numbing feeling take over him as he ran.
Iwaizumi opened his eyes, surprised at the brightness that enveloped him and dug into his eyes. He blinked furiously several times to get his surroundings back into focus from their initial blur. He registered that he was running, that there was a bouncing weight on his back that had not been there before, and that the school wall that he had just walked past felt unusually high. Iwaizumi may have been just shy of one-eighty centimetres, but he swore that he could always see far more of the shrubbery growing merrily behind the wall than he could now. Far more of it.
“Iwa-chan, you’re so slow today~!”
A loud, chipper voice that should not have been speaking at this volume at this time of day made Iwaizumi realise that he was not running alone, and that a young boy of similar height to him was running several metres in front of him, blue backpack bouncing merrily with every step he took.
The boy turned sharply right, maintaining his distance from Iwaizumi and disappearing from his sight for several seconds until Iwaizumi also made the turn. Iwaizumi watched as the boy, who probably had the most irresistible shade of chocolate-brown hair that Iwaizumi had ever seen, stumbled across the open gates of the school entrance first, raising his arms in victory and releasing a triumphant yell. As he turned around towards Iwaizumi to celebrate his victory, Iwaizumi was struck by the brown eyes meeting his green ones. Iwaizumi stopped running once he passed the school gates, feeling an unusual sense of contentment and relief replacing the panic that was threatening to consume him from within. His twenty-year-old self helpfully provided a name with the cheerful face that continued to celebrate in front of him. Oikawa Tooru. His neighbour and best friend from his childhood in Miyagi.
Iwaizumi looked down at his hands, registering their small size for the first time, the small still-healing scrapes that had not been there previously, and the darker, tanned skin tone that had originally faded over the years from lack of sun exposure. He looked towards the school building, and the long, flowing white banner in the middle which proudly read “Congratulations to the volleyball team for making the 2004 Nationals!”. And then back towards Oikawa Tooru, who looked very much alive. Back towards the banner. 2004. A jubilant moving Oikawa. His small, child-like hands, what was going on, what was going on-
The floodgates that temporarily held back memories from the events that had just transpired shattered, and Iwaizumi’s eyes widened in realisation.