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There was going to be a meet-up for the captains of every volleyball team the Karasuno captain had met, and Oikawa Tooru absolutely did not want to go.
All they were going to do was try to make friends with people who they were inevitably going to try and crush in a math- having even a semblance of sympathy for someone on the opposing team would surely just get in the way. Besides, he knew Ushijima was going to be there, and any opportunity he had to avoid any sort of interaction with him was one worth taking.
“It’ll be an excellent way to form healthy communications between teams. That sort of friendly rivalry is good for everyone involved.” Daichi had said, which was bullshit, because Oikawa wanted to go down petty and bitter right until the end.
“You don’t even know all the captains, Shitty-kawa, of course you should go.” Iwaizumi had retorted when Oikawa had tried to protest, which was rude, because Oikawa had watch every match tape he could get his hands on, and that was all he needed to know about any of them.
“I would like to observe any future competition more effectively, should the occasion arise that Shiratorizawa must play against them.” Ushijima had announced and, well, now he had to go. No way in Hell was he letting Shiratorizawa and even an ounce of an advantage over them.
And so that was what had led him here, sitting on the bus next to some old lady he didn’t know because the bus was too full, staring out of the window as the scenery glimpsed by. Going to any one of the other teams’ schools would have been a considerably long travel distance for a good few captains, so they’d tried to find some place roughly in the middle to meet just to make it fair. By ‘they’, he really just means Daichi, but he’s fairly sure the man had a lot of help from that setter of his- Suga, was it? Oikawa would have to be completely oblivious to think there wasn’t something going on there. Either way, he digresses.
He will admit, though, the view from the window isn’t half-bad. It looks like they’re heading towards a central park of sorts, as the metal clutches of the city begin to intermingle with the greenery. The trees are evergreen, he thinks, and he supposes that makes sense- they’re much tidier without losing their leaves in the later seasons. If he turns his gaze at just the right angle, he thinks he can see the entrance to the park up ahead, the painted metal gate glinting against the midday sun.
The bus begins to slow to a stop, catching sight of the bus stop beside the fence closing off the park from the city bustle. The old lady beside him rises to a stand, and he moves in kind, shooting the bus driver a charming smile (that he doesn’t return- honestly, the nerve of some people!), and steps off the bus. All the hectic roar of city life is no longer muffled behind the glaze of a window pane, and Oikawa moves against it, heading towards the park entrance. With a sigh, he puts his palm against the gate and moves it forward, opening himself up towards the swaying grass and the tastefully placed trees and flower beds. It’s a pretty big park, which is to be expected given he size of the city itself, but he doesn’t dwell much on it as he takes his first steps in.
Walking along the path, it doesn’t take long to get a feel for where the other captains are, given the fact that he hears them long before he sees them. One of them is yelling far too enthusiastically, and the other is cackling madly in what he thinks is a reply. Regardless, he carries on down the path, and it takes all of twenty seconds for the unruly group to come into view, and he pastes his signature smile across his face. First impressions are important, after all.
He takes in the group as a whole- the array of different faces and… interesting dress senses, before glancing fleetingly at every person present. There’s eight people in the group, which is kind of odd, since he’d been told that only seven team captains would be present excluding himself. Maybe someone who said they could make it had changed their mind last minute or something?
“Oikawa!” Daichi greets cheerfully when he finally spots him standing there. “Great to see you! I’m glad you could make it.”
Most of the group simply carry on talking with other captains, but some turn to watch the new arrival. Oikawa smile strains at the sight of one Ushijima Wakatoshi observing him, and he desperately pretends that he wants to be here. “Daichi! Always a delight!”
They move forward to shake hands, perhaps both a little too forceful. Good, that’s exactly how he likes it. Daichi leads him over towards some of the others. “Here, I’ll introduce you to some of the other teams. Are you familiar with anyone here?” He asks politely, ever the gentleman.
“There’ll be no need for an introduction to Ushiwaka,” He replies hastily, when he realises who he’s being led over to. “We’re… already acquainted.”
“Ah, right, yeah.” Daichi says, eyes dawning with the realisation. “Of course. Uh, how about Nekoma and Fukurodani?” Oikawa hasn’t been introduced to them before, so he tells Daichi as much, and the man leads him over to a small cluster of three people. Two out of three of them have hair that Oikawa would probably consider against the law, and the third has the arm of one of the others (who looks a little like an owl with the hair and the big eyes, he thinks) slung over his shoulders. The two with the illegal hair look to be having the time of their lives, while the expression of the third is carefully neutral.
“Hey hey hey, Sawamura!” The owlish one cries, waving the arm that isn’t wrapped around the shorter boy’s frantically. “Who’s that?!”
Daichi steps back to let Oikawa introduce himself properly, and he clears his throat before working his magic. “I’m Oikawa Tooru, the Aoba Johsai captain, what a pleasure to meet you three!”
“Bokuto Koutarou, Fukurodani!” He cheers and, oh, he’s heard of this one before. He’s almost certain that Bokuto’s one of the top five aces in the country. An incredible feat, of course, and certainly one he’s got to be aware of should they ever play against the school. “And this is my amazing vice-captain, Akaashi!”
The other boy- Akaashi, apparently- waves a little, nodding. Oikawa does not like how pretty he is, but ignores the thought anyway, because he’s certain he’s still the most charming one here. But, still, vice-captain? They were allowed to bring their vice-captains?
‘I could’ve brought Iwa-chan with me, dammit!’
The one with the emo hair and the snarky grin scoffs a little, raising a hand in a mocking sort of salute before returning the greeting. “Kuroo Tetsurou,” He says simply, voice an almost teasing drawl. “Nekoma. I’ve heard a little bit about you through the grape vine.”
Now that’s more like it. “Oh ho? Nothing terrible, I hope.” He laughs, aiming to give the slight impression of cheerful modesty. Judging by the snort from the emo- Kuroo, he means- it’s not overly successful.
“You’re a powerhouse of a setter, from what I’ve heard. I won’t repeat everything I heard from Tsukishima, but the fact that he even said that is pretty telling of your skill.”
“Tsukishima… oh! Glasses-kun? The grumpy one?”
Kuroo seems to approve of the nickname. “The very one,” He answers, brow raised in a hint of amusement. Is there anything this guy doesn’t find funny? “Me an’ Bokuto had the pleasure of teaching him a thing or two about blocking back at an inter-team training camp.”
“You’re a setter?” Akaashi questions, seeming to perk up as he asks once it’s clear that particular strain of conversation won’t last any longer.
“Naturally.” Oikawa answers smoothly. He’s itching to find out what makes Akaashi tick- if he’s like this when he plays volleyball, his level-headedness is probably excellent for strategizing and conducting those strategies. Again, utterly despicable.
Akaashi nods, and Bokuto chooses to pipe up. “Akaashi’s a setter too! He's the best- his passes are always fun to spike!” Oikawa is almost certain that Akaashi is not, in fact, the best (that would be him, thank you very much), but it seems to be said out of fondness more than anything, so he concedes to it.
“Ooh, perhaps we’ll have to exchange tips sometime, in that case!”
“Okay, I’ll leave you four to it.” Daichi chuckles, taking his leave to talk to who he thinks is the Date Tech captain, known for their famous ‘Iron Wall’.
Somewhere in the back of his head, he hears Iwaizumi’s voice telling him to stop thinking about volleyball for ‘once in his damn life’, but he tells his inner-Iwa-chan to stop being so rude, and re-focuses on the conversation he’s missing out on with the other captains (and vice-captain).
“Yeah, I think it’s about, like, aliens or something-” Kuroo is saying, but the moment the word ‘alien’ reaches Oikawa’s ears, he’s immediately cutting the other boy off.
“Aliens?” He says, significantly more engaged than he was two seconds ago. “What about aliens?”
Bokuto opts to explain. “I heard there’s a new movie coming out next week, but I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to go see it!” Oh, yeah, he’d heard about that one a month or so ago. He’d already made plans to see it with Iwaizumi- the special effects were supposed to be amazing. “Why? D’you like aliens?”
The three people in front of him don’t seem to realise it yet, but they’ve just unleashed an absolute monster. “Oh, absolutely. I mean, the universe is far too big for us to be the only intelligent species out there, right? Honestly, the idea alone is just fascinating- who knows what their technology is like compared to ours? Would they be in the rudimentary stages of technological development, or centuries ahead of us? Personally, I like to think they’d be pretty advanced compared to us, but either way the thought’s just so exciting!”
“Wow, didn’t take you for the nerd type.” Kuroo interrupts before he can really begin to pick up steam. Oikawa gasps, scandalised.
“The audacity!” He cries, as if Kuroo’s just scorned his great ancestors and bestowed a curse upon his entire family tree. “I am not a nerd. Space is an incredible subject, and who doesn’t think aliens are cool?!”
Kuroo raises his hands placatingly. “Whoa, whoa, calm down there. I’m just kidding,” He says, though the teasing smile remains fixed firmly in place. Oikawa’s half convinced it’s stuck like that. “Besides, I’d be a hypocrite otherwise.”
“You like aliens as well?” Oikawa asks, eyebrow raised, having regained his composure in order to recover from his prior indignancy.
“Nah, but I am a fan of the sciences as a whole. Chemistry’s probably my favourite.”
Oikawa doesn’t think he can help his surprise. “Wow, I really wouldn’t have thought. The whole ‘bad-boy’ vibe really puts it off.”
“’Bad-boy’ vibe?” He laughs, joking tone strangely disbelieving. “What gave you that impression?” It’s asked as if his hair’s not styled like a man who heads a motorcycle gang, with the leather jacket and the tantalising smirk to boot. In what world does this man not have a bad-boy vibe? He shakes his head of it nonetheless, having the politeness not to get into it. Truly, a gentleman.
“Hm, I’m not entirely sure. Anyway, chemistry? What’s your favourite thing about it?”
“Oh, definitely the chemical reactions. But also, using titration to make those salt crystals? That’s the shit, man, I love that stuff. Is there anything about chemistry you like, or is it just physics that you care about?”
It almost sounds like a challenge, and Oikawa treats it as such. “I’ll have you know, I adore the alkali metals! Potassium’s reactions with water and fire? Stunning.”
Kuroo snorts, because he’s a chemistry elitist. “Psh, they teach you that stuff in your first year. Plus, what about the silver nitrate reactions?”
“Silver nitrate reactions are boring,” He sniffs, because he’s also a science elitist, even if chemistry isn’t his main deal. “And just because it’s basic periodic table stuff does not mean it’s not absolutely mesmerising. Are you seriously telling me you’ve watched potassium spark like that in the water reaction and not been enchanted?”
“You make a good point, I’ll give you that.”
They’re both laughing, then, the subject moving towards other such matters. Oikawa had his doubts about coming here, but this is probably one of the most genuinely enjoyable conversations he’s ever had with someone outside of the Seijoh volleyball team. This is what he’s comfortable with- science and volleyball, volleyball and science. It’s, admittedly, really nice to find someone who feels the same way.
Oikawa leaves that park two hours later with a smile that gleams in the midday sun and a brand new phone number in his contacts that reads ‘Emo Mad-Scientist’. He resolves to tell Iwaizumi that he had an absolutely awful time.