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"Spit it out, man. We're not gonna bite." Takahiro joked, despite the clear discomfort in his facial expression. It was rare that they were vulnerable like this, despite knowing each other for years now. Hajime trusted them, but he couldn’t help being a little scared too.
Hajime swallowed the lump in his throat. The other three boys sitting around him were looking at him expectantly. They looked almost.. worried? They couldn't have been any more worried then him at that moment though, that's for sure. For all he knew, he could lose his closest friends within the next five minutes.
"I.." He started, acutely aware of the slight shake of his hands. Why was this so difficult? "I'm..um." Hajime sighed heavily. Might as well rip the bandage off and get it over with, right? "..I like guys. Romantically, I mean."
The other three stared at him for a few seconds, letting the room fill with dead silence aside from the ticking of the clock on the wall. Tooru's mouth was hanging open slightly, making him look a bit like a fish. Under any other circumstances, he would've made fun of him for it.
"So.. You're gay? Like, for real gay?" Takahiro mumbled. He pointedly didn't look Hajime in the eye, and Hajime felt his heart drop.
"I like girls too, I think. Just.. guys a bit more." Hajime admitted. "Sorry if that's weird or something." He crossed his arms over his chest, feeling himself slipping into defensive mode. Hajime usually had no problem snapping and insulting his friends when they did stupid shit. It was much harder now, when his biggest, most vulnerable secret was laid bare for all to see.
(Well. Second biggest secret.)
"That's cool, dude." Issei spoke up first, Takahiro and Tooru sparing glances towards him. "Thanks for trusting us enough to tell us. It must've been hard."
Hajime only managed a weak nod towards him, shoulders relaxing slightly, before turning to his other two friends. Takahiro gave him a small, but sincere smile, a rarely seen facial expression on the snarky boy, one who usually sported shit-eating grins and cackling laughter.
Finally, he looked over properly at Tooru, who seemed.. oddly pensive? He was fiddling with the edge of his shirt the way he often did when he was deep in thought, along with gliding his tongue across his bottom lip. (Hajime had to try his absolute hardest not to look when he did the latter habit, lest his mind fall even further into the gutter of hell.)
Tooru jerked out of this state once he noticed Hajime's eyes on him expectantly. He braced himself for an insult, hatred, anything.
Tooru just smiled, leaning back on his hands. "So. Which one of us was it?"
Hajime blinked. "What?"
"You know...Which one of us made you see the appeal of the male species?" Hajime's face flushed red before he moved and punched him harder than necessary in the shoulder, making the lighter haired boy wail in (mostly) faux pain. "Ow, Iwa-chan!"
"Just because I like guys doesn't mean I'd want your ugly asses. I have taste." Hajime growled. Tooru looked deeply offended. (Tooru was, in fact, Hajime's gay awakening, but he didn't need to tell him that. Not now, not ever.) The tension in the room was broken as Takahiro and Issei burst into hyena-like laughter.
"I don't know, man. Makki's pretty sexy." Issei guffawed, nudging Hajime in the shoulder. 'Have you seen his sheer lack of muscle and haircut to rival your mother's favorite bowl?"
"Jackass!!" Takahiro shoved his friend onto the blankets as said friend clutched his stomach in laughter. "At least I can shave my eyebrows properly!" At this point, Tooru and Hajime were laughing their asses off too, the latter feeling the weight lift off his shoulders.
Maybe things would be okay after all.
Things were not okay.
Hajime's friends were all acting weird. It felt okay the night he came out, laughing with his friends as they poked and prodded about the guys he found attractive. (He admitted to liking one or two guys in their year, but not to the biggest, most intense, long-lasting crush of all. He could never admit that one, over his cold dead body.) But despite this, it was undeniable that the energy of their group had shifted.
For one, Takahiro and Issei seemed to be doing everything their power to avoid fake-flirting with each other, or doing anything that could insinuate it. No smacking each other’s asses, for one thing. Inappropriate suggestive comments about the other? Gone like the wind. Catcalling in the hallways? Reduced to quick hellos and goodbyes. It was the most baffling thing Hajime had ever witnessed.
More often than not, the group found themselves in an almost awkward silence, and Hajime would catch Takahiro sneaking a glance at Issei, or the other way around, whipping their heads away once the other turned in their direction. They both seemed nervous, on edge about something or other. Hajime couldn't help but think it had to do with him.
And then there was Tooru, who was most definitely freaking Hajime out.
For one, he hadn't gone out on a date with any of his fangirls in.. god knows how long. It was unnatural for him. Ever since late in their first year, Tooru had a new girlfriend every month or twice a month. Always one after the next, never letting himself breathe. As of right now, he hadn't dated a girl in.. two weeks. The hell?
"Oi, Trashykawa, what's up with you?" Hajime grabbed the other boy by the hem of his shirt and dragged Tooru towards him. The other boy let him do so without protest. "You haven't gone on a date in ages, I'm almost worried for your ego."
"Aw, Iwa-chan is worried about little old me?" Tooru laughed in the airy, bright way he did when his mind was elsewhere.
Almost everything Tooru said or did in public was a pretense, Hajime knew this. Only once you've gotten close enough to him to strip his layers of cheeriness to the bone could you really see the marrow of Tooru's real personality. Takahiro and Issei have seen glimpses, flashes of bone among the flesh, but only Hajime had seen Tooru at his absolute lowest. Those late nights after a lost match where he would break down completely, real tears cascading down his cheeks as Hajime held him as tight as he could, whispering comforts and assurances that never properly sank in for Tooru, no matter how many times he said them.
"I'm mostly just put off. And disturbed." Hajime said glaringly, his anger only intensifying when Tooru pulled out his trademark wink, peace sign, and tongue sticking out of his mouth in a way that Hajime didn't care for or think about. Not at all. Not even once in his 17 years of life. "Stop that!"
"Have you considered that I'm perhaps simply taking a break from relationships, Iwa-chan? All these highs and lows and eventual inevitable breakups, it's terrible for my mental health!"
"Those girls' mental health suffered more from being with you than the other way around." Hajime snorted, trying to ignore the conflicting mix of swirling pain and hope in his stomach at the prospect of Oikawa no longer dating. Which was ridiculous, since he never had a chance in the first place. "Well, I'm glad you're giving your fanclub a chance to breathe, at least." Not technically a lie.
"Rude, Iwa-chan! As if everyone doesn't want a piece of this." Hajime burst out laughing, despite himself. However attractive his best friend may be, he was still a cocky idiot. An insufferably gorgeous, cocky idiot. Or at the very least pretended to be. It was extraordinarily convincing to the untrained eye. "Now, come on."
Tooru was a very touchy person. (In the physical sense here, but also in the sense that he was easily butthurt about anything and everything. Besides the point.) He was always draping himself over his friends, resting his head on their shoulders and never hesitating to grab their hands and drag them places with all the strength he could muster.
Hajime wasn't. Sure, he wouldn't protest a hug from close friends or family or a group one from the team after a particularly hard-earned victory, but he didn't actively seek out physical affection, nor enjoy it. Tooru was the exception, as he was for everything to Hajime, embarrassingly and glaringly obvious to everyone but Tooru himself.
But today was without an arm carelessly draped over Hajime's shoulder, or a tight grip on his hand to drag him somewhere that would leave Hajime's heart beating a hundred miles a minute. It was without a minute that felt like an hour of Tooru running his long, delicate fingers through the tufts of Hajime's spiky hair with the excuse of "It's just so matted, Iwa-chan! Do you use conditioner, like, at all? Ever?". Even without a bone-crushing hug from the taller boy as they said goodbye to each other on the Friday afternoons at their respective homes, despite them living right beside each other and most certainly going to hang out during the weekend, anyway.
Instead, Tooru simply tucked his hands into his school jacket pockets and continued walking alongside him, still chattering away. It was bewildering.
(And Hajime missed it, as he begrudgingly admitted to himself. Tooru was a part of him, and it's never easy when a part of you is pulling away. Also Tooru was just nice to hold, honestly. It felt like they fit together, like side-by-side puzzle pieces. That wasn't weird to say, was it?)
Hajime kept his pace with his best friend, making sure to nod along as Tooru went on about something or other. He wasn't fully registering his words, all his attention being focused on ignoring the sinking pit in his stomach.
Hajime was unsure whether things were okay. It didn’t feel that way.
The four of them ate lunch together as they often did, underneath the shadow of a huge tree in their school courtyard. Every so often, a stray leaf would fall onto one of their heads or into their food. They found that none of them minded, though. At least it was quieter here.
As much as Hajime griped about how loud and annoying his friends usually were, he found that the silence was even harder to bear, and not even close to half as endearing. And he absolutely hated how it was probably his fault.
Being the brutally honest and blunt one of the group, the only one who didn't beat around the bush, Hajime had no choice but to bring it up in the most mature and direct way he knew how.
"Shittykawa, you haven't whined or complained or asked for a sip of my drink that you don't even like this whole time. Are you sick?" Tooru snapped out of his daze, his usually constant plastered-on smile faltering for a moment, before slipping it back on just as easily as it fell. A lesser friend wouldn't have noticed.
"It's not my fault you always pick such bitter drinks! I mean coffee, Iwa-chan, really? We're in our second year, not in the final year of university." Tooru stuck his tongue out and Hajime felt his breath hitch. Mind, gutter, steer clear. Goodness.
"You’re immature, and your taste buds are weak." Hajime incredulously scoffed. "I didn't even bring coffee this time. It's milk tea, and it even has sugar in it. You love this stuff!"
(Hajime would never, ever admit that the reason he brought this drink at all was because of him. That would be leaving his heart out on the ground bare for Tooru to gawk at, basically.)
"I don't know if I can trust you, Iwa-chan.. Maybe you're just trying to get back at me for something I did!"
"Bullshit. You say nothing but bullshit. Just give it a sip, dumbass." Hajime stuck his hand holding the drink out to his best friend, looking at him expectantly. "It's not poisoned, or drugged, or whatever stupid shit is going through your head right now."
Just a few weeks ago, he had done the same thing with a drink the other hadn't even liked, but he had drunk the whole thing just to spite Hajime (which he hit him over the head a few times for. And a few more later when they were doing homework together at Tooru's house. That's when he learned that Tooru was about a thousand times more erratic on caffeine.)
And yet, he did none of that this time. Tooru simply cast his gaze to the side, a light blush dusting his cheeks.
"No thank you, Iwa-chan." came the soft mumble from Tooru. The hell?
"Don't tease him so, Iwa-chan." Takahiro snickered, tossing one of his legs over the other one from where he sat. "Youre basically offering him an indirect kiss, you know. Kinda gay." He wiggled his eyebrows, but due to their unnatural thinness and them being light pink/brown in color, it wasn't very effective. Hajime thinks that he should've gotten Issei to do the motion instead. Lord knows that boy would do anything for him.
"You’re kinda gay." Hajime snipped at the boy with the overgrown bowlcut. The prospect of indirectly kissing Tooru was not the source of his reddened face. It was just hot outside.
"Who's talking?" Takahiro retorted, eyebrow raised and mouth curled up in a smirk. Out of the corner of his eye, Hajime saw Issei stiffen.
"You think being gay is contagious or some shit?"
"Pucker up and we'll find out." Takahiro leant forward and started making exaggerated wet kissing noises, to Hajime and (especially) Tooru's disgust. Hajime went over and slapped his hand over his friend's mouth before he could let out an obnoxious fake moan, laughing as Takahiro snickered from under his palm.
“If you lick me, I’ll literally kill you.” Hajime snipped. Takahiro laughed even harder.
Issei stood up abruptly, his utensils from lunch getting knocked to the floor with a clang! He blinked at the ground, as if he was still processing his own knee-jerk reaction. Blinking out of his daze, he avoided his friends eyes, confused gazes all pinned on him.
"I just remembered, I need to go pick up- something. Homework, I missed." Issei mumbled, gingerly crouching to the ground and picking up his utensils, packing his bag back up in record time. On a regular day, he did so with an impressive amount of laziness, like he had all the time in the world. If classes had already started five minutes before, that wasn't Issei's problem.
Once packed up, he sent his friends a quick wave over his shoulder. "I'll see you guys in math." Issei clutched tightly onto his bag strap before dashing off into the main building out of sight. The group was silent for a moment before Takahiro spoke up.
"..That was.. weird?" Takahiro said tentatively. Hajime rolled his eyes at this, and tried his best to ignore how Issei's quick departure worried him too.
"No shit. Think we upset him somehow?"
"Maybe, but I can't see how. Mattsun isn't like Oikawa, who gets butthurt about literally anything and everything ever."
"Excuse me?" Tooru snapped, indignant. "God forbid a teenage boy is in touch with his emotions!" Hajime stared at him blankly.
"Being in touch with your emotions is not the same thing as being emotionally immature, Trashykawa." Takahiro bursted into snorting, somewhat forced laughter, spitting rice onto the ground below him.
"Ew, Makki, gross!" Tooru stuck out his tongue, face scrunching up in a way Hajime didn’t find cute in the slightest. "You just sprayed your germs all over some poor ant!"
"I'll spray my germs on you, asswad."
"Don't you dare, freak!"
Hajime relaxed as Tooru and Takahiro settled into their usual banter. Sure, it felt off without Issei there, but he was sure it was just a passing mood. He picked at the remainder of his lunch, before an odd realisation struck him.
He was almost certain they didn't have math today.
Hajime hoped Issei was okay. And Tooru too, for that matter.
Practice that afternoon was rough. The air was undeniably tense, and it seeped through into their performance. There was a massive elephant in the room that three people seemed to be doing everything in their power not to acknowledge.
There was an underlying frustration to the way Issei slammed the ball back down onto the court with his blocks that day. It wasn't particularly powerful, not like Tooru's serves, but there was something about the way he grimaced, as if he was making an active effort to shut off thoughts of anything else but how the ball smacked against his palm and onto the floor on the opponent's side of the net. He doesn't think he'd actually seen Issei this focused throughout the entirety of a practice ever. It was worrying.
Finally, Coach Irihata clapped his hands together to signify the end of practice. Out of the corner of Hajime's eye, he could see Takahiro exhale in relief, despite having not worked up a sweat in the slightest. He seemed like a scared deer the entire time, and just as ready to bolt. Sure enough, he was gone in the next second after dismissal.
On the other hand, Issei was rooted where he stood, staring off at the club door where Takahiro had disappeared into with the facial expression equivalent to a kicked puppy. What the fuck was going on here?
Hajime pulled on a new shirt after practice, one that wasn't completely drenched in sweat. Only a few seconds after he had the new shirt slipped on over his stomach did he notice Issei out of the corner of his eye. He was leaning against the door to the locker room, looking mildly uncomfortable. His eyes were trained on Hajime, thick eyebrows raised. If he didn't know any better, Hajime would think he was being ogled at.
Issei and Hajime finally locked eyes, causing Issei to let out a very uncharacteristic stammer. "Uh, shit. Sorry man, didn't mean to stare. I know that's, like, weird."
"Matsukawa." Hajime let out a pained sigh. "We have known each other for years and we have seen each other change multiple times. It's not weird unless you make it weird. Are you trying to make it weird?"
"No, I'm just- it's just-" Issei mumbled something under his breath, something that Hajime couldn't quite catch. Hajime squinted in the other boy's direction.
"What the hell did you just say, dude? Speak up a little-"
"God, I- listen, I think I have a crush on Makki."
"...Oh." Hajime had not been expecting that. In hindsight though, he probably should've. It made a lot of Issei's behavior the past few days click into place.
"Yeah." Issei rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, shifting his eyes from Hajime to the floor and back again. "When you were talking about those guys you liked, it sounded eerily similar to how I think about Makki. I thought wanting to get in your friend's pants was just a bro thing."
Hajime stared at him, completely unimpressed. And they called him the dense one?
"Wait, so you weren't joking when you called him sexy that time?" Issei's face basically lit on fire. He dragged his hands across his face with a groan, almost as if he was attempting in vain to tear off his own skin. Hajime sympathized.
"I don't even know, dude." Issei moaned out. "I didn't think much of it at first, but all of a sudden, I was so aware of everything he did. I don't know how I so casually put my hand on his shoulder before, much less smacking his ass all the time! Now, when I think of doing it, I feel like throwing up."
"I was wondering about that." Hajime admitted. "Believe it or not, that was my first tell that something was up with you two."
"That's terrible. We're terrible, Iwaizumi." Issei deadpanned. "He's more perceptive than he seems, you know. He's definitely noticed something is wrong, and if he figures it out, I'm genuinely done for."
"And I genuinely think you don't have anything to be worried about." Hajime states. He had a feeling that Issei's feelings were more reciprocated than he expected, but it wasn't his place to directly say so.
"Yesterday, he took his shirt off in front of me in the changing room, literally exactly what he's done every day after practice for two whole years now, and I wanted to kill myself. What is wrong with me?" Issei hissed, clearly not listening to what Hajime was saying. "He's not even kinda jacked like you. He's a whole stick. How is that hot?"
"The hormones have a mind of their own.”
"Yeah, no shit. You're down bad for Oikawa of all people. Oikawa!" Issei raised his arms in the air for emphasis, at the same time that Hajime stopped in his tracks.
Did he ever tell Issei about him l̶o̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ liking Tooru? He didn't think so. Last time he'd checked, he'd sworn on his own grave, along with the ones of his dead grandparents that he would bring that secret down there with him. As the cogs turned (slowly and unsuccessfully) in Hajime's head, Issei gave him an unimpressed stare of his own. "..Did you seriously think you were subtle?"
"I hoped I was." Hajime admitted miserably. He groaned and buried his face in his hands as if he could disappear into them. "Fuck, can he tell?"
"Nah, no way. He's more oblivious than you are dense when it comes to non-volleyball related things, and that's saying an awful lot." Hajime quickly responded with a middle finger to the face. Issei simply grinned.
“Oikawa’s pretty smart, alright? Give him some credit.”
Issei snorted. "Can you say that again? I need to record it so I can send it to Oikawa and he’ll keel over and die from shock.” Hajime rolled his eyes so hard he could feel it in the back of his head.
"You and Hanamaki deserve each other."
"I could never in my life dream of achieving Makki's level of petty spite. Don't tell him I said that, he'd hold it over me forever." Issei's tone was so unbelievably fond, it was actually adorable.
"So romantic. Be sure to say that in your wedding vows. If you don't, I'll mention it in the best man's speech."
"Who said anything about you being my best man?"
"Come on. You'd be getting married to Hanamaki, obviously-" Hajime doesn't miss the blush on Issei's face, and smirks, just a little. "-and that leaves Oikawa and me. You want Oikawa, the guy who remembers everything ever, good and really really bad, and is dramatic as hell about it too, as your best man?"
"No but-" Issei started. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right." A snicker escaped his mouth, before developing into guffaws, and Issei curled over in laughter. He eventually stopped cackling like a madman and turned back to Hajime. "Thanks man, really."
"No problem." Hajime smiled, albeit a little awkwardly. "Don't even really know what you're thanking me for, but no problem anyways?"
"I guess I'm thanking you for being a little braver than me."
Hajime snorted, and thought of swoopy chestnut hair and bright, yet fake smiles. “I’m really not.”
Things weren’t quite okay yet, but Hajime felt a little better anyway.
It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The sky was clear, a brilliant blue with a few stray clouds here and there. Hajime felt sick to his stomach.
Tooru hadn’t responded to him in two days. He had sent him a text when he got home right after Friday practice. They had walked home together as always, but Tooru was eerily silent. Hajime realised just how much of their back and forth conversation relied on Tooru’s seemingly nonsensical questions that led to some genuinely interesting conversations. Don’t get him wrong, sometimes it was also just pure bullshit. Tooru wasn’t a genius, or anything.
Hajime had texted to ask whether he could come over on Saturday. He usually did. The text was just a courtesy if anything. Tooru would send a stupid emoticon that featured a thumbs up and Hajime would be off. But this time, there had been nothing. He hadn’t even read it, for god’s sake.
“Hey, Oikawa. It’s me. Can I come in?”
Which is why he was currently in Tooru’s house. And about to enter Tooru’s bedroom. Like a normal person, with normal levels of attachment to their best friends. God.
Within not even a second, the door was swung open. “Iwa-chan? What are you..?”
“You didn’t respond to my text. From, uh, Friday.” Hajime mentally facepalmed. This was so embarrassing. Who was he, Tooru’s clingy lovesick girlfriend? It had just been two days. He was being unbelievably dramatic and really not subtle at all. Was this what Issei meant when he said Hajime was obvious? He understood why now.
“Oh, um. I broke my phone.” Tooru grinned at him sheepishly. “I may or may not have dropped it in the toilet.”
“Idiotkawa.” Hajime snorted. He almost threw up at just how ridiculously fond he sounded. “Can I come in or not?”
“You don’t even have to ask, you know. Actually, I thought you’d just come over yesterday anyway. It’s not like I ever say anything different.” Tooru fell backwards onto his bed, and Hajime sat down on the floor right below him.
“Yeah, but…” Hajime trailed off. Tooru tilted his head in curiosity.
“Did something happen? Did I do something?” Tooru paused, before sticking his bottom lip pouting like a child. “...Are you mad at me?” Hajime knew whenever Tooru asked this, it was always only half a joke, and he made sure to reassure him no matter what. He wasn’t that mean.
“Stop looking at me like that, it makes me want to punch you.” That was a lie. Hajime wanted to kiss him now more than ever. “And no, I’m not mad at you. I’ve just been thinking a lot, okay?”
“About Mattsun? And Makki?” Hajime whipped his head upwards towards him.
“How did you know?” It was true, Hajime had been worried for the two of them, but he also had confidence in Issei. After their conversation in the locker room, Hajime knew Issei would do something about it. He had always been the more honest of the two.
“I notice things, Iwa-chan! You know this. I’m surprised it got through that brick of a head you have, though- Ow!” Hajime very lightly stepped on his toes. “Can you not physically assault me in my own home?”
“Stop saying stupid shit, then I won’t try to injure you as a consequence.” Tooru huffed, which made Hajime laugh just a little. A moment passed where neither of the boys said anything, and Tooru began fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. Hajime could see the gears turn in his head.
“Hey, Iwa-chan. Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, okay.” Hajime waited for some bizarre inquiry like he had asked hundreds of times before. (“Iwa-chan, do you think aliens play volleyball? I feel like it would be hard with zero gravity…) But it wasn’t that.
“How would you react if a friend told you they like you? Like, like-like.” Hajime did a double-take. What on earth? Were they still talking about Issei and Takahiro? Did Takahiro talk to Tooru like Issei did to him? Did someone else confess to Tooru? Hajime’s mind was whirling.
Or even worse, he knows. He knows about Hajime and his extremely embarrassing mushy romantic feelings for him. Hajime wanted to throw up all over again, all over Tooru’s soft plush carpet.
“Like-like? What are we, ten? Also, what is this actually about? Don’t lie to me.” Hajime hoped he didn’t sound desperate, and also that Tooru didn’t notice he completely avoided the question. To all of his shock, Tooru’s ears were red, and his face was dusted in the same shade too.
“Hajime.”
Oh.
“Please don’t hate me for what I’m about to say, I’m sorry.” Tooru’s voice was so raw and his voice cracked on his apologies and Hajime felt his heart drop into his stomach. Of course Tooru would want to let him down gently. Despite his powerful serves and dramatic personality he showed off to the public, he was oh so very gentle with Hajime, always. Of course this wouldn’t be any different. Of course, it would still sting. Tooru’s gentleness always did.
“I could never hate you.” Perhaps the most honest thing Hajime had ever said. A fundamental truth in the textbook of Iwaizumi Hajime, indisputable and firm. No matter what Tooru said to him next, even if he slapped him in the face and threw him out of his bedroom and onto the streets, that fact would never, ever change.
“I-” Tooru took a deep breath and exhaled, before sliding down from his bed to join Hajime on the floor. He picked at his fingers for a minute or two, accompanied by silence. Finally, he lifted his head and looked Hajime in the eyes, face red and eyes wet. “Iwa-chan, I think I like you.”
Iwa-chan, I think I like you.
Iwa-chan, I think I like you.
I think I like you.
You.
“Haji-” Before Tooru could get another word in, Hajime grabbed the other boy by the shoulders and pulled him into the tightest hug he’d ever given anyone. He buried his face in Tooru’s shoulder and tried really, really hard not to cry. He was so warm. Hajime wanted to die. He'd never felt so alive. Tooru liked him.
“Me too. I like you too, you dumbass. Always have.” Yep, he was definitely crying. God dammit. Based on the sobs he could hear that were certainly not his own, he wasn’t the only one. Hajime felt almost hysterical, and if he couldn’t feel Tooru’s tears soak his shoulder, he would’ve pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.
“You were my fucking gay awakening, dumbass.” Hajime grumbled when he finally pulled away from their embrace. He was sure his face was stoplight red by now, perfectly matching the other’s flushed complexion. Tooru’s red-rimmed eyes widened before he burst into a fit of giggles.
“I knew it!” Tooru laughed, voice still raw from crying, all layers stripped back. “I’ve always been irresistible from the very start!”
“Please don’t make me punch you, I’m gonna look so stupid doing it while crying.”
“That was the plan!” Tooru’s grin could bring the summer early. Hajime loved him so, so much. This mental acknowledgement didn’t make him feel nauseous anymore. Rather, it made him feel overly warm, like he’d been sitting in front of a campfire for way too long.
Tooru was okay, and that’s what mattered to Hajime more than anything.
"Iwa-chan!!" came a shout from outside his classroom. Hajime felt his head jerk up from where it rested on his desk. He wasn't the only one, clearly, the shrill voice of his boyfriend (Hajime couldn't believe he could call him that in his head now) having drawn quite a bit of attention. When did it not, though?
The brown haired boy burst through the door, waving his phone in the air before quickly making his way to Hajime's desk, ignoring the baffled and vaguely annoyed teenagers around him.
"Iwa-chan!! Did you see this?" The enthusiastic setter stuck his phone in Hajime's face, making it impossible to see anything at all.
"Not when you're basically smacking me in the face with your phone, I can't, dumbass." Hajime took Tooru's phone from him and finally got a good look at its screen, only to see a relatively blurry selfie of their dear friends Takahiro and Issei, featuring them lip-locked and posted on Takahiro's social media for all to see. "Oh my god."
"I know right?"
"He has no shame." Hajime snorted. Looks like they sorted out their problems and got right down to business. Good for them.
"Neither of them do. They really are perfect for each other, aren't they?"
"Doesn't mean they have to subject the rest of us to it." Hajime grumbled, smiling nonetheless. He was genuinely happy for them (disgusting PDA aside.) "Thank god Hanamaki's lame and only has like 10 followers or some shit. And it's pretty much just us and Matsukawa's alt accounts."
"Actually, he has 420! Not as much as me but still a few-"
"For real? Damn. Who the hell-" At this moment, the bell rang loud and clear from above them. Tooru jumped, before turning to Hajime and taking his phone back. Their fingers ghosted over each other's for a split second and Hajime couldn't help the goosebumps that surfaced all over his body at the slightest contact. Maybe he was bigger on physical contact than he thought. (Or maybe he just really, really liked Tooru.)
Hajime was pretty surprised to find out that Tooru wasn't all that big on PDA. Unlike when he was with any of his previous girlfriends, he seemed to enjoy keeping things he genuinely loved close to his chest. Hajime was more than happy about that, because the disgustingly possessive codependent part of him was tired of sharing Tooru with people.
Their relationship wasn't a secret or anything, just not on blast like Takahiro and Issei's seemed to be, which was just fine with him.
"I'll see you later, Iwa-chan. Milk bread run before going to your place? I'll pay this time, I swear." His hands pressed together like he was begging and it made Hajime's heart swell up to two hundred times its original size.
"Yeah, okay." Hajime grins because he knows damn well Tooru wasn't going to pay. The setter is tens of thousands of yen in debt to him by now, but Hajime could not bring himself to care. "I'll see you at the entrance."
Hajime didn’t say I love you this time, but he doesn't need to. It's a message that is intrinsic to all their interactions, to their dynamic and every word that comes out of their mouths towards each other. It's always been that way with them, hasn't it? It just has a label now. A mutual acknowledgement.
Tooru does a little wave before disappearing out the door, right when his teacher steps into the classroom. He watched the setter quickly make his way down the hall, fancy brown hair in a blur as he passed. The lightness in his chest persisted, even without the boy in his sight.
Things were more than okay. They were good, Hajime decided. Very good.