Chapter Text
Oikawa considered himself a people person.
He was well-versed in social interaction and even deemed himself fairly popular and extremely charming. Tooru could make conversation in even the tensest situations so why was he struggling so hard right now.
After he almost kissed Tobio, everything had just been so weird and he’d been kicking himself for doing it so suddenly and without thinking, but he also couldn’t bring himself to regret it and it was honestly scaring him.
Sure, Kageyama was attractive enough and close to his type he supposed, with dark hair and pretty eyes, but he was also Kageyama.
The same Kageyama who he’d known for years and grown up around and screwed over countless times had looked so good up close.
His eyes were just, so blue and his face was warm in his hand. Smooth skin, a little darker than his, taken care of but not in the same way that Tooru did routinely every night. Tobio was more the type to use everything-in-one shampoo, conditioner, soap type shit yet somehow it worked for him? He would almost be jealous if he hadn’t felt so gratified seeing him all red and stuttering.
That was definitely new and he resented that part of himself for giving him a slight taste of something completely unachievable.
He didn’t know when his little crush on Tobio had started, but now it was definitely messing with his head.
In hindsight, it was probably Tooru’s fault for running away from the situation. He’d left his shift at the earliest convenience once he managed to get ahold of himself enough to go back out. The frantic texts he’d sent off to anyone who he’d thought would respond were still on his phone and he wasn’t exactly proud of himself for that. He was supposed to be confident and smooth and, well, better at this than he is.
He wasn’t supposed to stumble on his words when Tobio so much as looked at him over the machines. The younger was absurdly determined to be the best at almost everything and his focus was so endearing that it was almost painful. Even when he was just washing the dishes, he scrubbed them until they were all polished to a shine. He had the habit of furrowing his brows together and practically having a staring contest with the mugs, which paired with biting his lip when he found a particularly dirty one was killing him. Oikawa didn’t think he could take much more of this before he said or did something much more stupid than trying to kiss him.
And worse still, since then they’d gotten pretty shit at their jobs, so a third person had gotten assigned to help with some of their shifts and Tooru hated him. With a passion.
His name was Terushima and he had actually worked on the counter for the actual book store the cafe was in for a while but had offered to take up some extra shifts wherever he could.
He’d known he hated the man since he came and Kageyama had flirted with him, once , for the stupid bet and he’d not only played along with it but even made an effort to make some of his own advances. His comments had been so blatantly obvious that Oikawa wanted to punch him, but Tobio, being Tobio, had moved on and forgotten the man after getting his mumbled score from Tooru. He was also incredibly oblivious to his other shit, but for some reason, the guy didn’t know when to give up. So Oikawa had made it his personal mission to get in his way and stop his bullshit whenever he could. He was proud to admit that he’d stopped him from asking him out multiple times in the last week.
There was no way in hell he was going to let him anywhere near Tobio, so yeah they didn't get along. At all.
Currently, the three of them were all in front, Tobio working on the display case as usual, with Tooru making the stupid drinks and glaring daggers at their other employee as he snuck looks at the younger’s ass between customers on register.
During a longer lull, the man stood up, his stupid blonde hair falling into his eyes as he smiled down at Kageyama, who had turned around to shoot him a blank stare.
“Hey Kageyama, you want to go get some lunch? I’m sure Oikawa-san would be able to hold down the fort for a bit,” He said that dumb smile on his face, his eyes flitting over to him and sharpening slightly. Tooru stifled a gag at his overly cheery disposition and pasted on his own charming smile, placing a hand on Tobio’s shoulder.
“Sorry Terushima, Tobio-chan and I already planned to go hang out with Samu-chan today, so I’m afraid you’ll have to hold it down on your own for a bit,” Oikawa said, burying his contempt under sugar-coated words and flippant movements. He had to force down his satisfaction at the way the man’s smile twitched downwards at his words before freezing back in place, “You’re free to go on break alone once we get back though, I’ll even let you get away with an extra 20 minutes as a thank you,” Kageyama looked between them confusedly.
Their other coworker made eye contact with him, probably expecting the youngest to say something to the contrary judging by the look on his face, but he just shrugged.
“Sorry Terushima-san,” The youngest said, untying his apron and going to get his jacket from the back. Oikawa didn’t even try to hold back his smile. He grinned openly at the man who rolled his eyes and turned to pout down at the register. Tooru took off his own apron and grabbed his phone from under the counter just as Kageyama came back out.
“Ready to go, Tobio-chan?” The older asked, tucking a few stray strands of brown hair behind his ears. Damn, he really needed a haircut. Tobio paused for a second, staring, and then startled out of his momentary trance and nodded. He led them out of the shop not even throwing a glance back at the cashier. Oikawa bit his lip to try not to snicker at the little huff the other man gave.
Take that asshole, he likes me better.
Tobio might not have known exactly what was happening, but he’d simply gone with whatever it was that Oikawa was doing without any major questions and he was grateful for that. The idea of having to explain it to Kageyama was terrifying in its own way because, in reality, his reasons behind it were pretty selfish.
He tried to push those thoughts from his mind as they walked through the mall in relative silence.
It wasn’t like he owned the man. He could go with whoever he wanted but...
Oikawa looked over at Kageyama, who was staring intently at the cheap claw machine things in the corners of the walkway. They’d restocked recently to get little fruit-themed stuffed animals. Apparently, the blueberry cow was capturing his attention.
The idea of Tobio with anyone else like that made his stomach turn.
He didn’t think that he was the jealous type before but fuck, when it came to Kageyama it was like he was a whole different person.
Tooru wasn't sure exactly how he felt about that.
On one hand, he was pretty territorial and a little (just a little) desperate for his attention at seemingly random times which wasn’t great or convenient.
On the other, he was more observant and more comfortable. He didn’t feel like he needed to be anyone else around the boy. Kageyama had already seen him be what might’ve been the worst version of himself and he was still here for some reason, so he obviously wasn’t going to be scared away if he didn’t brush his hair perfectly or smile all day.
It was a bit bizarre for him to feel that way with anyone other than Iwaizumi.
Being with Tobio reminded him of hanging upside down from a tree when he was younger. All the blood rushed to your head and made you feel like it was going to explode, but it also made you laugh and enjoy the clarity that came with the lightheadedness. The world seemed so much more black and white. The shapes were clear and defined from the new angle. Complex problems seemed to have straightforward solutions. His world view, while a bit oversimplified, was refreshing in the best way. Kageyama was blunt and rash where Oikawa would overthink and walk himself in circles until he wanted to cry or give up. Talking to him was reliable in a way Tooru had never expected.
And that made him mad that he hadn’t seen it before but also glad to have him by his side.
“Oikawa-san,”
“Hm?” Oikawa looked up to see that they finally made it to the food court. Osamu had already spotted them, evident in the way his eyes were rolling and his posture had slackened a bit. “You go ahead Tobio-chan, I’m going to grab some udon,” He mumbled, his eyes drifting away from the Takoyaki stand their friend worked at. The food was great, but a lot more overpriced than he could afford on his university student budget.
Kageyama nodded and walked off to greet their friend and most likely try to weasel his way into some cheaper food.
As Oikawa stood off to the side after ordering his food, he let his gaze fall back onto the younger employee.
He was talking to Osamu and probably pouting seeing how he was tilting his head so slightly downward and hunching his shoulders. Miya shook his head but passed over a tray of food and the boy lit up. Tooru held back a laugh as his name got called and he went to pick up his order.
It seemed like even someone as impassive as Osamu wasn’t immune to Tobio’s antics.
He took a short pit stop by the vending machines to grab a carton of the milk that Kageyama liked. The same as usual, light blue carton of white milk. The boy was actually very particular about his brands.
He didn’t know when it happened, but they fell into a kind of rhythm to these visits.
Kageyama bothered Osamu until he gave him food, Oikawa got his from the cheapest place possible and bought Kageyama his milk, and Osamu inevitably got distracted by them talking to him from the table nearest to the stand.
When Tooru made his way back, Kageyama was already tearing into his food with his usual ravenous manner. Oikawa made a face. He was seriously going to choke if he kept going like that.
“Gross Tobio-chan, chew your food,” he whined, setting down his tray and sliding the milk over to him. He perked up at the sight of it as usual, and even though his eating habits were definitely questionable, Tooru was reminded of just how endearing the boy was.
His eyes widened and his lips turned up just slightly in such a triumphant look in such a dumb situation. It was such a simple gesture yet it never failed to make him happy.
Oikawa was thanking whatever was out there for Kageyama’s strange affinity for milk. It was one of the easiest ways to get on his good side and it was incredibly entertaining to watch.
He was content to just talk as he worked on his food and ignore the pointed looks Osamu was shooting at him.
“So how’s the new guy, ya got workin' out?” He asked, earning a look back from Oikawa this time. Miya simply raised an eyebrow and turned to Tobio as he moved things from the fryer to the heated containers.
“He’s fine,” Kageyama mumbled between bites, “Good at latte art so I don’t have to do it as much anymore,”
“Yeah, Terushima-kun is quite the guy,” Tooru said, trying to keep his tone from being too telling of his true opinions. Apparently, he didn’t do well though, because Osamu immediately zeroed in on him. Stupid Miyas and their good perception.
“Really?” He asked, looking entirely unconvinced by his performance.
“Really,” Tooru tried, upping the earnesty in his tone, “Decent worker, I guess,”
“Ya guess?”
“I barely know him, Samu-chan, what do you want me to say?” He exclaimed trying to play off his awkward laugh and look over at the spiker, attempting to send a message through his eyes.
Osamu raised his eyebrows at him, but hummed and moved on, looking back to Tobio who was still very much interested in eating his food.
“What d'ya think of him, Tobio-kun?”
“I told you already,” He grumbled, momentarily looking up from his plate to give Miya a blank stare. The older sighed and Oikawa felt a twinge of sympathy for him. Sometimes things just went way over Kageyama’s head.
“I meant like, as a person,” Tobio shrugged, chasing a broken takoyaki ball around his bowl with his chopsticks in an attempt to pick it up.
“I don’t know him either,” He finally grabbed it and gave a smirk, finally victorious, “He seems nice,” the man added as an afterthought before going back to the task of finishing his food.
Oikawa held back a sigh and dropped his eyes to his own tray, trying to just focus on his noodles. He forced a little smile onto his face. This was fine. Tobio could like whoever he wanted.
He pretended that he didn’t feel the jealousy ache in his chest. It was different from how he’d felt watching Kageyama excel in everything volleyball-related. That one burned with shame and bitterness. This one stung him right in the heart with a more sour and unwarranted fervor and clouded his thoughts and judgment more than the other ever could.
The look on Osamu’s face told him that he did a shit job hiding it.
Miya sighed for the billionth time and looked between him and Kageyama for a few seconds, letting the silence pool as if he expected one of them to say something.
Tobio only just then finished his food and looked up again. Blue eyes glanced around as he seemed to notice the change in the mood.
Oikawa tried not to be jealous of the way he turned to Osamu for answers or support or whatever.
Another sigh and then the worker looked around a bit to check for customers. Then he easily ducked under the counter to actually face them completely in all his stained shirt and apron-clad glory.
“Are ya busy tomorrow?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest, his eyes, blue but more grey than Tobio’s, full of a cross between irritation and pity, maybe? Osamu was much harder to read than his twin.
The question was sudden enough to pull Tooru out of his thoughts as Tobio responded with a simple “No,”
Oikawa looked up to see Miya staring at him now, confirming that he had been referring to both of them. He glanced over at Kageyama before responding, getting a subtle shrug.
“Maybe,” the older setter answered, keeping his tone light as he leaned forward to rest his head on one of his hands. The grey-haired man rolled his eyes at the cocky smirk aimed his way, “You want to do something?”
“Me and Tsumu were gonna go see a movie at the new theatre downtown and he told me to ask if ya wanted to come,”
Oikawa nodded and took a second to ponder the question.
He had finished up his latest essay assignment on time for once, so other than a few chapter readings that could be done within an hour with some determination and caffeine, he didn’t really have much schoolwork to do.
Plus Iwa-chan was going to be off with his girlfriend so it wasn’t like he could hang out with him and he didn’t particularly feel like spending his Saturday alone, binging reruns of old ghost hunting shows on TV so...
“Sure, sounds like fun,” He replied simply to Osamu. Brown eyes flitted over to the youngest, “How about you Tobio-chan?”
Tooru could admit to himself that the idea of sitting in a dark theatre with his junior, sharing popcorn and overly sugary snacks didn’t sound like a terrible way to spend his time, so he inwardly was hoping for his agreement. Who knew though? Kageyama spent most of his free time practicing and developing new skills. The boy lived and breathed volleyball so it wouldn’t come as a surprise if he chose it over a social engagement.
“Ok,” He replied, his expression not betraying much of his thoughts on the event. The pursed shape of his lips was strange though. Usually, they were left neutral or pointed downwards into a scowl and-
Fuck, how often did he spend time staring at his lips to know their usual state? No wonder Iwaizumi always complained that he was too distracted around the younger, he clearly had no control over his eyes.
“Cool, I’ll text ya the details later,” Osamu stated, picking up both of their trays and hefting the combined weight of the utensils and the plates over his shoulder in a practiced motion that showed off his muscled arms, “Now fuck off, I have work to do and yer already late to get back,”
Oikawa raised an eyebrow and glanced at his phone.
He was right, they’d gone over by about 20 minutes now. Oops.
“Shit, bye Osamu-san, thanks for the food,” Kageyama said, standing up quickly and grabbing onto Oikawa’s shoulder to make him hurry up when he made it clear that he would take his sweet time getting up.
Outwardly, he whined about Tobio stretching out his clothes and argued with the boy about being late and walking too slow.
But inwardly…
Inwardly he laughed, already picturing the irked look that was sure to be on Terushima’s stupid face once he saw them stroll back into the cafe together: over 20 minutes late, with Kageyama’s warm hands wrapped up in Tooru’s collar, brushing at bare skin as he messed around with him. It was going to be hilarious.
He smirked.
Take that asshole, you have no chance.