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Oikawa knew everything about his best friend.
Favorite food? Agedashi tofu. Favorite movie? Godzilla, specifically the 1954 film. Current height? 179.8 cm (Oikawa remembers how excited he had sounded when he told him that he had grown .5 cm and also how totally unbothered he sounded when Oikawa revealed he had grown .5 cm as well). Favorite bug? Hercules beetle. Most embarrassing memory? When Iwa-chan was 8 years old, he had accidentally called Oikawa’s mom his mom and to this day, neither household lets him live it down.
There was nothing about precious little Iwa-chan that Oikawa didn’t know about.
It was late night in Argentina, the night weather just cold enough for Oikawa to have an excuse to bundle up under his blanket, wrap it tightly around himself, as he made an attempt at sleeping before his early morning flight to California.
One could blame it on how late and how little sleep Oikawa knew that he was going to get. Or maybe one could blame his actions on the slight anxiety he had for visiting his best friend for the first time in his new home.
So here he was, stalking anyone and everyone that Iwaizumi had followed in the past two years (more like the past 31 months and 12 days but who is really counting?).
There were the obvious suspects that Oikawa had met over video chat like Iwaizumi’s roommate and flatmates, as well as the few other people that Iwaizumi had often chatted about. Then were the few other people that Oikawa had to assume were also friends with him by some sort of association.
It wasn’t any of that that bothered him.
No, it was finding his way to a certain instagram account: UCI Hotties.
For obvious reasons, Iwaizumi wasn’t tagged in any of the photos. And there were a lot of photos.
The first photo of Iwaizumi that was uploaded was back in October 2012. He was captured wearing a Godzilla costume for some house party that he was invited to. (Oikawa quietly chuckled to himself as he thought of a memory of Iwaizumi who had shown him his costume.
“Ooooh sooo sexy Iwa-chan,” Oikawa laughed, barely able to utter the words with how ridiculous his best friend looked.
Apparently after a lengthy discussion with his roommates, they decided to come to a compromise where yes, Iwaizumi could dress up as Godzilla to the houseparty they were going to, but he was going to wear the Godzilla costume that they chose for him.
So there Iwaizumi found himself, in a terribly totally inaccurate slutty Godzilla costume. Sure there were the typical spikes that covered the back of his arms and along the spine, as well as some… interesting, to say the least… boots. He had bright blue contacts in as well and had his roommates help spike his hair. But that was practically the most of it. And really, he did look a little ridiculous.
To save some of his pride, Iwaizumi had chosen to wear some dark colored jeans beneath it all.
“Dude. I hate this I—I’m supposed to go into public? Like this?!” he groaned. “And they won’t even let me put a shirt on!”
That only made Oikawa laugh even harder against his pillow. “Ah well Iwa-chan must have the full university experience, no?”
“I hate you so much right now.”)
Below the photo was the caption: International student Hajime decides to show his fangs this Halloween!
It had a disgustingly large amount of likes as well as comments all gushing over Iwa-chan and his big arms and abs. Oikawa felt like he wanted to throw his phone across the room as well as throw up.
The next photo that was taken was in December 2012. This photo was much more tame, much more reminiscent of the Iwaizumi that Oikawa had grown up beside. He was simply chatting with this girl, showing something in the notebook that he was holding. Below, the caption read: Hajime helping out a fellow classmate during dead week, I know I would go to him for help with all my classes ;)
From there, the photos just kept increasing exponentially. Everything from Iwaizumi accidentally falling asleep in the library (caption: Hajime caught asleep in the Science Library! Must be tiring being hot all the time) to a blurry photo of Iwaizumi just simply standing there on campus (caption: Hajime spotted at the corner of Ring Rd. and Michael Drake Dr. Is he waiting for class… or maybe a cute date! I wish that were me)
Reading through the comment section wasn’t any better. People of all kinds were talking about how “it’s so embarrassing how flustered I got when he looked at me!!” and how “his voice is so sexy, even when he’s just explaining muscle insertions to me”.
The more Oikawa read through each post of his best friend, the more something dawned on him.
People really did think that Iwaizumi Hajime, the brutish kid that Oikawa was practically raised beside, was hot. But not just that, but people liked, no, lusted after Iwaizumi. There were so many people, so many encounters, so many photos of Iwaizumi on this one instagram account. How many more were there outside of this? Was Iwaizumi aware of this? Or was he playing into it? Or was he—
Oikawa stopped his train of thought. He was being silly. There was no way that Iwa-chan, the one that had regularly pelted him with volleyballs, the Iwa-chan that accidentally mated two beetles and cried about it, the Iwa-chan that always forgot how to use his ult attack in Smash Bros., the Iwa-chan that had bought him milk bread and ice-cream whenever he was feeling down, this Iwa-chan, his Iwa-chan, was…
a player ?
He scrubbed at his eyes and sighed. It was 2:26 am, he had to get up in less than two hours for his flight. There was no time for him to overthink about potentially how much his best friend had changed in just two years (31 months and 12 days).
Because really, there was no way that even after video chatting once every week and still keeping up with texts at least every other day, that Oikawa wouldn’t’ve realized that Iwaizumi had become some sort of hot shot playboy in California, right?
Oikawa threw his blanket over his head and buried his head into his pillow. He could think about this later. For now, he was planning to get as much rest as possible and sleep for most of the flight.
There were two things that Oikawa could conclude after his flight:
- It is probably worth it to upgrade to better seating to better avoid annoying noisy kids and babies on a flight.
- He had to make sure that Iwaizumi was never seen on that damned UCI Hotties account ever again.
It was a simple conclusion to come to, really. Iwaizumi Hajime was Oikawa’s best friend. And after a whole lot of more scrolling through each photo’s comment section, he realized that all of this was probably a distraction to Iwa-chan. Constantly being photographed and showed off to the entire campus like he was some sort of magical godly being. Not to mention the amount of people who admitted to going up to talk to him just to talk to him (how invasive! What if Iwa-chan was diligently studying! He can’t get behind on his assignments because some girl wanted her three seconds of fame with the campus hottie!).
So to ease the burden off of his Iwa-chan’s shoulders, he had decided that he needed to get his name off of that damn site and make sure to let the whole campus know that Iwa-chan was not allowed to be posted on that account ever again.
How? By simply showing the entire campus that Iwaizumi was taken.
It wasn’t like he had a crush on his Iwa-chan or anything. He just… wanted to make sure that he was excelling in his studies! Oikawa nodded to himself as he finally picked up his luggage, a smile on his face.
Act like his boyfriend… a simple plan to make sure no one else gets their nasty claws into Iwa-chan! he triumphantly thought to himself.
Oikawa’s phone lit up, the vibration running as Iwaizumi’s contact came up on his screen. A large smile crossed his face as he answered the call.
“Iwa-chan~!” he happily chirped.
“Where are you?”
He playfully rolled his eyes and shook his head, the smile still warm on his face. “No hello? No ‘how’s your flight?’ So brutish, Iwa-chan. I know aunty taught you better manners than that!”
Iwaizumi sighed across the speaker. “You’re going to tell me about your flight anyway. So where are you?”
“Oh I’m…” Oikawa’s voice trailed off as he tried to look for a sign around him.
As his eyes roamed his surroundings, he saw tufts of spiky black hair far in the distance and his eyes lit up. “IWA-CHAAAAN!”
He could see Iwaizumi cringe since he still had his phone to his ear but his head still whipped up, looking for him. Oikawa raised his arms into the air and warmth spread across his cheeks and sparklers were ignited in his veins as he buzzed with excitement.
As soon as their eyes met, Oikawa was able to conclude one more thing:
He really missed his best friend.
Oikawa felt weightless as he ran towards Iwaizumi, like the fatigue of the last 17 hours of airports and crying babies and various stops and checks had all melted away. Because he was here. In California. And more importantly, with his best friend.
Iwaizumi’s arms were warm as he crashed into him, his bags all abandoned on the floor as he was happily accepted into Iwaizumi’s tight embrace. He buried his face into the crook of his neck, letting the world around them come to a stop because nothing in the world mattered when they were together.
It could have been seconds, or minutes, or even years that had passed before they had separated. But neither cared. No words needed to be said.
He was home.
They laughed, picked his things up and made their way to Iwaizumi’s car (“I still can’t believe aunty and uncle let you get a car” “It’s kind of a necessity in California”).
Conversation easily flowed like there wasn’t a 31 month and 13 day difference between when they had seen each other face to face last. It felt perfect, it felt so right just to be by Iwaizumi’s side.
“So, what’re you craving?” Iwaizumi asked as he turned the car on, the engine roaring to life. He began to turn dials and press various buttons as he talked. “There aren’t many Argentinian restaurants nearby and I’m not too sure there are any that are that good like in Argentina. There’s actually some pretty okay Japanese food around here. Nothing like home, like not at all, but not bad.”
Oikawa laughed as he made himself comfortable in his seat. “I trust wherever Iwa-chan wants to take me.”
“You sure?”
He happily nodded. “Give me the full California experience while I’m here!”
Iwa-chan smiled. “Alright. How about curry?”
The drive was shorter than Oikawa expected. Iwa-chan had rolled the windows down to let in the cooling air as he merged lanes and took turns to make their way to their destination. (“Iwa-chan careful!” “Everyone drives like this here. I’m fine, Noisykawa.”)
“Sooooo, how’s Iwa-chan?” Oikawa hummed as he looked over the menu which to his surprise looked actually a little promising.
Iwa-chan scoffed. “Come on, Oikawa. You already know everything.”
“And? I wanna hear it again, especially since I’m here!”
He just rolled his eyes as he talked about his day and how things have been over here at university. It wasn’t anything that Oikawa hadn’t heard before. But it didn’t change the fact that it was them talking about all of this face to face . There wasn’t any squinting at small pixels, no having to put on headphones to get better audio quality (even though the restaurant that they were at was noisy). It was perfect.
But even as they were talking, as he listened to each and every one of his stories, he couldn’t help but think about that damn account that had too many photos of his best friend.
There was no way that he was a player, right? It was just that the entire campus had decided, all at once, that they all were in love with him. All at once. Not because he was flirting with all these different girls and guys and slowly got them to all fall for him at the same time. Nope. Not that at all.
“-kawa. Are you even listening to me?”
Oikawa fluttered his eyes and tilted his head to the side. “Sorry, Iwa-chan’s bad haircut distracted me,” he lightly said with a wide smile.
He tried not to actually laugh as Iwaizumi scratched at his nape. “Okay listen it’s-it’s in style right now! What’s your excuse?!”
A frown quickly formed as he furrowed his brow, eyes narrowed into slits. “What do you mean ‘my excuse’? I just cut it shorter for the season!”
“Yeah? And it looks good!”
“Yeah well!—...wait really? You think so?”
“I—well I mean yeah I-I guess… it’s… it’s actually really nice.” Even though he mumbled the last part of that sentence, Oikawa could just barely make his words out from the constant chatter in the room.
He got compliments all the time. All the aunties always gushed over him whenever he walked by, girls and guys all stared just a little too long at him and would barely get the courage to say anything, even his teammates had complimented his shorter hair when he had first gotten it. So why did the room suddenly feel so hot?
“Well… thank you, Iwa-chan. At least you have eyes for some sense of style.”
The noise bouncing off the walls easily filled the silence as they both sat there. Oikawa’s face still felt red and he couldn’t look just across the table at Iwaizumi.
Was this how Iwa-chan got all these people to fall for him??
⊹₊⟡⋆
Once their food was brought to their table, it was like nothing had happened and everything had gone back to normal. Their conversation picked back up and the two ate their food with Oikawa occasionally stealing a bite or two from Iwaizumi’s plate even when he kept insisting that it’s the same thing Stingykawa stop that—
Afterwards, they had decided to also pick up some boba next door as well as some pastries from the bakery beside ( “Look how soft this bread is! Oh and I wanna try this—oh and this!” “Greedykawa don’t buy everything, I can't pay for all this.” “Don’t worry Iwa-chan! I, the great Oikawa-san, have my own money and can pay.” “Like hell I’m letting you pay.” )
Now armed with all of Oikawa’s luggage, takeout from the curry place (for Iwaizumi’s flatmates), and bread, they jumbled their way up to Iwaizumi’s apartment.
“Did you really need to bring all this?” Iwaizumi grumbled as he balanced everything so he could open the door.
Oikawa helped push the door open. “Of course! I know Iwa-chan doesn’t have all my hair and face products. Though I am going to be using your tape. I know you have some here so I didn’t bring any.”
“Of course you didn’t,” Iwaizumi sighed as he carefully walked in and placed everything he was holding onto the nearest table before going to take everything from Oikawa’s hands. Oikawa handed him the stuff he was holding before turning to open the shared closet and pulled out two pairs of indoor shoes.
Something in Iwaizumi’s heart ached as Oikawa slid Iwaizumi his shoes before putting on his own. Having Oikawa here who already knew where everything was, it felt really… nice. He hid his smile as he grabbed Oikawa’s bags and began to carry them towards his room.
Together, they unpacked his stuff ( “Really?” He held up a shirt that said ‘my best friend’ with an arrow pointing to the left. Oikawa covered his mouth as he giggled. “I know you have yours here~” ) before Oikawa excused himself to use the bathroom.
Behind the closed door, Iwaizumi could hear the shower start. A small smile grew on his face as he finished putting the last of Oikawa’s things away. It had been so long since he had last seen Oikawa, last heard his voice in person, last was able to touch him and feel him next to him . He had found a home here in California with new friends and new spots, but…
Iwaizumi’s eyes drifted over to where he heard Oikawa loudly singing in the shower.
He felt like screaming.
The distance had allowed him to be a little more honest with himself. Long nights spent staring at the ceiling, thinking about how deeply his feelings ran, intertwined with every fibre of his being.
There was no doubt he had feelings for Oikawa. Strong feelings. It was usually easy to maintain when Oikawa was an ocean and some hours away. Easy to fantasize about holding his hand, kissing his cheek, laying him in his bed. It's easy to think about what life would be like if he was willing to close the gap and take Oikawa’s hand in his own, confess his life's worth of feelings and maybe embrace Oikawa as his.
But actually having Oikawa so close felt like he was just one move away from rewriting their relationship, for better or worse.
He so desperately wanted to reach out, but what if Oikawa truly didn’t feel the same about him? There were never really any signs that Oikawa felt the same about him. Sure they were best friends that talked just about every day and knew just about everything about each other, but that was just how friends worked. That’s how Hajime and Tooru always worked.
Iwaizumi felt like screaming again.
“Iwa-chan the shower is open!”
Heaving a sigh, Iwaizumi grabbed his stuff and shuffled his way into the bathroom. He didn’t bat an eye as he turned on the water and Oikawa didn’t budge. Iwaizumi took his clothes off and hopped in, hoping that the water would give him some sort of clarity from the dumb stupid feelings that came with being around your best friend.
Iwaizumi also didn’t bat an eye when Oikawa instructed him to sit on the toilet seat so he could apply the goopy pink facemask onto his face. Oikawa was close. Very close. Practically sitting on his lap close.
“Iwa-chan and his dumb small pores…” Oikawa grumbled. His breath was warm and smelled like mint as he talked.
Carefully, he rested his hands on Oikawa’s waist. Just so he doesn’t fall , Iwaizumi reasoned with himself. Iwaizumi let himself lean a little more into his touch for easier application, obviously.
He playfully rolled his eyes. “Is The Oikawa Tooru jealous of my genetics? It must be my lucky day.”
“As if your genetics are better than mine. Yours stops at good skin.”
“And yours stops at your hair.”
“Yours stops at your height.”
Iwaizumi scoffed. “Okay I’m not th—”
His words were cut short as the bathroom door swung open revealing none other than his roommate, Jack.
Their eyes met for a few seconds before Jack broke off to look at Oikawa who was still very much on his lap. Oikawa Tooru who was on his lap. Oikawa Tooru who was wearing one of Iwaizumi’s shirts and his boxers. Oikawa Tooru who was holding his face steady so he could better apply the facemask.
He opened his mouth but before he could say something, anything, really, Jack was already talking.
“Right. You’re Oikawa. Hajime’s friend, right?”
Iwaizumi briefly saw something flash across Oikawa’s face before it was covered by one of his classic blinding smiles. “Yup! You must be Iwa-chan’s roommate, Jack, right?”
Jack nodded. “Nice to meet you. Just let me know when…” his eyes darted between the small space between them. “You two are done with… this. Thanks for the food by the way.”
He could just barely hear Jack mumble something he couldn’t understand but just shrugged it off.
Iwaizumi watched the cogs turn in Oikawa’s head before he turned back to him and continued to apply the facemask. This time around, Oikawa was much quieter. His eyes were focused at what his hands were doing, but it was obvious that Oikawa was still roaming through his own mind, probably running himself in circles.
“Stop thinking so hard. You’re going to complain about wrinkles later,” he mumbled, the mask already feeling a little tight at the spots where it was already drying.
“I’m not—”
“Jack doesn’t care, y’know.”
Oikawa’s hands stilled. A beat passed before he continued working. “What is Iwa-chan talking about?”
He began to rub soft circles with his thumb against Oikawa’s side. “Don’t think too hard about it. Jack has one more exam tomorrow morning. He’s just really stressed about it. Whatever you were picking up is probably just left over stress from his exams today.”
“Then why isn’t Iwa-chan more stressed?”
Because you’re here. “Because I’m already done with all of mine.”
“I guess that makes sense.” Oikawa slipped off his lap and smiled. “All done! Should we let your roommate know that we’re done while we wait?”
Iwaizumi stood and peeked out the door to see Jack knocked out face down on his bed, his legs dangling off the side. He looked back to see Oikawa also looking at his roommate. It was obvious Oikawa was trying not to laugh which brought a smile onto his face. “I don’t think he’ll mind until we’ve washed it off in a bit.”
Once they were completely finished, then Iwaizumi finally shook his roommate awake and helped him gather his stuff to make sure he didn’t trip over anything as he stumbled into the bathroom.
Turning around, Iwaizumi was met with the sight of his best friend huddled underneath the blankets. He felt his heart ache a little at the sight.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to sleep on the couch? It’s a small bed,” Iwaizumi asked. Already, Oikawa was scooting closer to one side so Iwaizumi had more room.
“Iwa-chan, we’ve been sharing a bed since we were kids. What’s stopping tradition?”
Iwaizumi sighed and shook his head. “I think there’s a difference between two grown adult athletic men sharing a twin bed versus two kids sharing a futon.”
Oikawa practically ignored him as he continued to move to make just enough space to fit them both. Even though they were both just able to fit, it didn’t mean that it was comfortable. It was a mess of limbs and blankets as minutes passed until they finally found an arrangement that worked for them.
This arrangement just so happened to be with Oikawa’s head on his chest, his arms wrapped around him and their legs tangled together. He prayed to whatever god that was watching and mocking him that his heart didn’t sound like he had just finished a marathon with how close Oikawa was to him.
“Finally comfortable?” Iwaizumi asked, resting his cheek on top of Oikawa’s head.
“Yup! Turn off the light please?”
Just as Iwaizumi reached over to turn off the light, the bathroom door opened once more.
And just as before, Iwaizumi and Jack looked at each other.
He watched as Jack’s eyes slowly moved from his face down to where Oikawa was practically cuddling against him. As if in a replay of earlier events, Iwaizumi opened his mouth only for Jack to stop him.
“You can turn off the light. Night.”
Iwaizumi blinked as Jack simply walked out the door into the living room. He looked down at Oikawa who was looking up at him with big brown sleepy eyes. Oikawa fluttered his eyelashes and Iwaizumi knew for a fact that there was a conversation that had just happened that he didn’t realize happened.
He could ask Jack about it tomorrow.
Iwaizumi loved his flatmates.
They had all met in their freshman year as they struggled through their first of many physics classes together. The four of them had formed their lab group together and according to some arbitrary Californian rules that Iwaizumi still didn’t fully understand, that meant that they were now friends and friends lived together.
Sure they had their flaws as roommates, but it wasn’t anything that were complete deal breakers.
Jack was pretty good at keeping his side of the room clean. The worst thing about him was that he almost always had his headphones in which made trying to talk to him a little hard if his music was too loud. He was the one that always knew where all the good study spots on and off campus were and often invited him to study together.
David was nice and was the one to really help Iwaizumi get used to life here by sharing the Japanese-Danish fusion foods with him as well as that they had a lot of classes together. The food was reminiscent of the food he would have back home but with a twist of something new.
Noah was the one that he got along with best. Somehow, they had bonded over their love for the gym even though outside of the gym, Noah spent the rest of his free time playing some sort of monster hunting game in which his guild was at the top three in the world.
The four of them had gotten along pretty well and rarely ever stepped on toes as they lived together. Each person knew their space and their boundaries and never really stepped across them.
But if there was one thing Iwaizumi always complained about was that all of them were bad at knocking on doors.
“Hey Haji—wooooah dude.”
Iwaizumi looked up to see David standing in the doorway with his eyebrows raised. He could see how David’s eyes kept shifting from his face to where Oikawa was tucked into him, which apparently was a common act since Jack kept trying to sneak glances at them as he got ready and left for some early morning studying (read: cramming).
“What is it?” Hajime quietly asked.
“Want breakfast? I was gonna go down to Breakfast Republic if you wanted to come. I’ll drive.”
He looked down at a sleeping Oikawa, his breaths soft and even as he rested against Iwaizum’s chest.
“If you wanna stay in with your boyfriend I get it I can just—”
Iwaizumi choked. “No—no he would probably wanna go. Lemme wake him up first. Give us… 15?”
David nodded and left but not before giving them one more weird look.
He laid there in silence for a few seconds as he thought of what David had said. His boyfriend. God… Now Iwaizumi had never really confirmed that they were dating. But he also never really denied that they were dating. Whatever people thought of the two of them was whatever they seemed their relationship was.
Boyfriend
Iwaizumi sighed and scrubbed at his eyes with his hand that wasn’t around his best friend.
“Iwa-chan’s flatmate is nosy.”
He looked down to see Oikawa sleepily blinking up at him. If they were boyfriends like David had assumed, he wouldn’t have hesitated to kiss his face stupid. But they weren’t boyfriends. So he couldn’t kiss him.
“He just doesn’t like to knock is all. Now you heard him, get up. Let’s get breakfast.”
Getting ready definitely didn’t take 15 minutes. But neither David nor Iwaizumi were going to complain about not getting their breakfast at 9:00 AM sharp.
When Oikawa had finally stepped out of Iwaizumi’s room, he couldn’t help but stare. There wasn’t any reason for Oikawa to choose to dress up in Iwaizumi's sweater and a nice pair of jeans, hair perfectly swept to the side. Yet here he was, looking just like everything Iwaizumi had thought he would in the morning.
Oikawa’s face twisted into one of disgust as his eyes landed on David, and even more so when he looked at Iwaizumi.
In stark comparison, both Iwaizumi and his friend were dressed in sweats and ratty old tee-shirts.
Iwaizumi met Oikawa with a flat look which was only returned with a much more pointed one.
He frowned back because really it was only breakfast. But Oikawa’s gaze didn’t waver and he sighed and pulled himself off from the couch back into his room to change. If he saw Oikawa's triumphant look on his face as he walked to the door, he didn’t say anything.
⊹₊⟡⋆
Waking up that morning, Oikawa had forgotten about his plan for his visit that day. All morning, thoughts about how close he and Iwa-chan had been the entire night plagued his mind. Thinking about it made his face flush and his heart beat fast enough that he wasn’t sure if he could keep up. It wasn’t like he had a crush on Iwaizumi, it was just… overwhelming being so close to him after not being able to touch him for a few years straight.
It was only once they had gotten their food that Oikawa was brutally reminded about the goal in mind for his visit.
Just as he was about to dig into his pancakes, a foreign voice interrupted their conversation.
“Hajime! Hey!”
They all looked up to see two girls together. It took everything in Oikawa to calm the scowl off his face into something more pleasant. As they began to walk closer, Oikawa moved just the slightest bit closer to Iwaizumi, pressing his knee against Iwa-chan’s.
He could see David’s eyes flit over to him but neither said anything.
“Oh, uh, hey,” Iwa-chan replied.
The girls were objectively pretty. Long hair with cakey makeup that even he thought should be illegal for so early in the morning. “Celebrating the end of the quarter?” one of them asked, batting their clumpy eyelashes at Iwa-chan.
“Yeah I guess so.”
Across from him, he could see David hiding his smile behind his breakfast burrito. Even after living in California for three years, his Iwa-chan was still terrible at talking to girls.
“We just finished our last exam last night!” the blonde one said, leaning over the table a little more.
Iwaizumi nodded along. “Oh congrats then.” Oikawa could see Iwaizumi’s eyes dart down to his food and back up at her. This time he had to hide his laugh.
He wasn’t as subtle as the brunette gave him a bit of a look which he only raised an eyebrow at, leaning just the slightest bit closer to Iwaizumi. Her eyes darkened for a split second before she turned a bright smile towards Iwaizumi.
“Thank you!” She flipped her blonde hair which definitely wasn’t her natural color and definitely didn’t suit her. “Yeah we worked sooo hard these past few days. We were also thinking of just hanging out later tonight. If you aren’t busy, do you wanna come with us?”
Oikawa had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from frowning at this girl’s forwardness. He wanted to stand up and throw his food at her face and tell her that Iwa-chan would not like to go hang out with her because there was no reason for Iwaizumi to be around someone like her. His grip tightened around his fork.
But as if Iwaizumi had sensed his discomfort, he placed his hand on Oikawa’s and said, “Sorry. I already have plans with him today.”
Warmth spread across Oikawa’s face as he looked down at their hands. He could barely hear Iwaizumi tell her that he was going to be busy all break with him over how loud his heart was pounding in his chest. All he could register was watching as the two girls walked away and Iwaizumi looking at him with such concerned wide eyes.
“You okay, Tooru?”
If there was anyone that was going to kill him, it was going to be Iwa-chan.
He put on his best smile. “I’m good. I was just surprised Iwa-chan turned down such cute girls to hang out with me.” It felt like poison calling those girls cute but Iwaizumi didn’t seem to notice.
Iwa-chan just shrugged and finally took a bite of his food. “It’d be rude not to hang out with you while you’re visiting,” he said around a mouthful of food which Oikawa found disgustingly endearing. “Plus, I didn’t want to hang out with them anyway. All they wanna do is go to Seaside and drink shitty alcohol.”
Even though he had said all of that in Japanese, David had recognized a few words and really couldn’t help himself but burst out laughing this time. Hearing his laugh, Oikawa couldn’t help but laugh with him as Iwaizumi just blinked at them and continued eating his food.
“Iwa-chan is the best.”
“... I’m going to kill you. Both of you,” he said in perfect deadpan English.
The rest of their breakfast passed without any more annoying girls bothering them. It was nice, going out, getting breakfast with Iwa-chan and his friend, laughing and listening, chatting about plans they had over break and what they were up to.
This time, the invitation to hang out later that day came easy as Iwa-chan’s roommates had all opted to stay at home and relax with a few drinks and close friends. Of course Oikawa was invited and of course Oikawa had eagerly accepted, ready to meet more of Iwa-chan’s friends.
After breakfast, David led them to the coffee shop next door.
The interior was clean and warm with the smell of coffee permeating the air and filling every corner of the shop. Already he was eyeing all the cute little pastries that were on the display case, his stomach ready for more even after a very filling breakfast.
“Oi, what do you want?” Iwa-chan asked as they waited in the long line.
Oikawa looked at the menu, his eyes ghosted over the coffees and espressos to the teas. As much as he did enjoy the smell of coffee, he still couldn’t get over the taste . Even back home in Argentina, he had forgone a morning cup of coffee to instead have some maté.
“Ahh, well the matcha looks good… or maybe one of their teas? What does…” he squinted at the menu. “‘Immunity Sparkling Citrus Tea’ mean?”
Iwa-chan shrugged. “Probably tastes like orange soda.”
“What do you like to order?”
“Usually just a cold brew.” Oikawa’s face scrunched up in disgust. Iwaizumi just rolled his eyes and bumped his shoulder with his own.
As soon as they reached the front of the line, the barista’s face immediately lit up. “Oh my gosh Hajime! It’s great to see you! Lemme guess, a large cold brew?”
Oikawa took a step closer to Iwaizumi, resting his hand on the lower part of Iwaizumi’s back. Almost immediately his eyes were on the girl. Something about her felt so… familiar. Like he had seen her before… The longer he looked, the more things he noticed about this particular girl. Auburn hair in a twist braid. Freckles along her cheeks. Two lobe piercings with thin chain gold earrings. Wait—
The pieces clicked together as he realized that this was one of the girls on that damn Instagram account. What was the caption again… something about his stunning arms and—right! It was them at the gym together and she was obviously trying to throw herself all over him! The audacity!
There was no way, no chance, that Oikawa would ever let someone like her get with someone as amazing and perfect and handsome as his precious Iwa-chan!
Iwaizumi looked over at him, raising an eyebrow in confusion. He blinked twice before looking at the barista girl and back at Iwa-chan then tilted his head to the side. What were… oh right, the drinks!
He looked over at Iwa-chan and gave him a big smile. “Can Iwa-chan please get me a matcha? Make sure they use vanilla syrup and oat milk, iced, please.” Oikawa made sure to flutter his eyes just enough for Iwaizumi to be convinced that he was just trying to tease him and for the girl to realize that she had no chance with his best friend.
A soft chuckle escaped his lips at Iwaizumi’s disgusted face at his order. “Yeah, sure.”
Oikawa smiled and leaned in, playing the perfect role of the “boyfriend.” Across from him came the flash of a cold dark stare shooting his way. If he was supposed to notice, he made no inkling of it and just continued as he smiled and let Iwaizumi pay for their drinks (even though he was going to sneak the money back into his wallet later).
“So, Jim, ‘Kawa, me ‘and the others were planning just a small celebration for the end of the quarter, you guys?” David asked.
“Right, I’m still down if you are.” Iwaizumi turned to look at him with a small smile. He hadn’t realized that he had never let go of him, nor that Iwaizumi hadn’t stepped away from him. Like this, he could feel the warmth of Iwaizumi right at his side. “You down? We don’t have to if you don’t want to, they won’t mind,” he said in a soft voice only meant to be shared between the two of them.
Oikawa had to fight off the heat rushing to his face. “Yeah I’m down, or whatever…”
Iwaizumi flashed that adorable boyish smile at him before turning to talk to David. Unbeknownst to him, Oikawa mentally fights the demons in his head saying to pull his childhood best friend whose friendship he doesn’t want to lose closer and kiss him senseless so everyone, including the barista, would see that Iwa-chan is all his.
He was being rude. If Iwa-chan heard his thoughts he would definitely smack him on the head and tell him that he’s being mean and that the barista was simply being nice.
Nice…
Right.
And if he gave the barista a look when he got their drinks, then that stayed between him and his mind.
The rest of the day was spent right by Iwaizumi’s side as he showed him around campus. His favorite place to nap, where he often studied when the library was too full and the apartment too loud, was the court where he was dragged into a pickup game of basketball in his first year.
It all felt so… right.
Iwaizumi excitedly told him things he had already heard a million times before, and yet, it felt different. How his bronze skin glowed underneath the sunlight, the way the soft gentle breeze ruffled his hair, the true warmth and depth of his voice not restrained through dingy computer speakers.
California had changed him.
Throughout all of that change, through all the experiences that Iwaizumi had faced on a different continent than him, he still found himself falling hard for this new person that he had met.
A softness in his shoulders, the crinkles at the corner of his eyes, the lax in his walk, and familiarity of his surroundings. Distantly, Oikawa thought if this is what he looked like when he’s in Argentina, and if it’ll look different if they were back in Japan.
Walking by the beach at sunset, sharing a greasy pizza split between the two.
By the time the two of them had gotten back from dinner at a small little restaurant right by the ocean, the get-together was already in full swing. The heavy smell of pizza and cheap alcohol permeated the air welcoming them as they walked through the doorway.
As soon as they came into view of the living room, everyone loudly cheered, a cup of some dark liquid magically appearing in his hand. Various friends that Oikawa recognized through Instagram and pictures Iwaizumi had shown him were sprawled all around the living room.
It was weird watching how easily Iwaizumi slid into the atmosphere.
Growing up alongside him, it was always Oikawa who was the most sociable. Iwaizumi simply followed suit and followed him to random parties that he would drag him to. Now, here was his best friend pulling him down onto the floor to sit and chat with his friend. This time Iwaizumi was taking the lead and including Oikawa into various conversations that were bouncing around the room.
He did his best to follow along to the drunken laughter and babble of college students who were running on 41 minutes of sleep, caffeine, a prayer, and a few too many cups of cheap alcohol.
Quietly to himself, Oikawa was delighted that no one seemed too touchy with his Iwa-chan. Not that it mattered. They are his friends. He is perfectly valid to be as close as he wanted with his friends. Even if it meant that some girls got just the smallest bit too close. But nothing like moving just the smallest bit closer to his best friend couldn’t fix it.
“Gosh you two are just like that. Cute!” Gabby lauded as she leaned forward.
Savya practically launched herself out of her chair. “Aren’t they? Like the cutest. Like the things I’d do to have a childhood best friend like that like I’d kill for that my goosh.”
Oikawa giggled as he leaned towards Iwaizumi. Admittedly, he too was a little tipsy from whatever concoction that he was refilled a few times and given.
“Hajime-chan really is the best~,” Oikawa hummed.
“OH MY GOD YOU CALL HIM HAJIME-CHAN!” The girls drunkenly cooed.
Iwaizumi hummed and pulled him close. “I mean… we’ve been friends for years…”
“Mhmm…”
“He practically knows everything about me.”
“Everything from the posters on the wall in his childhood room to the weird Instagram page people post him on.”
Everyone stopped to look at Oikawa and it was only once all eyes were on him did he notice what he had said. He blinked once. Twice. And really was too drunk to care if Iwaizumi knew about his terrible stalking habits anymore.
Savya loudly gasped. “Oh my gosh you mean UCI Hotties! Yeah there are sooo many pics of Hajime there!”
Iwaizumi frowned and rested his chin on Oikawa’s shoulder. “Tooru…” he lowly mumbled, “how do you know of—”
“I admit I’ve sent in my own photos of Jim but it was only at first just as a joke! But then like, more people started to notice him and he’s become The Campus Hottie!” Gabby laughed as she pulled up the page on her phone. She began to point out the photos that she had sent to the page to Oikawa.
David shook his head and laughed so hard he spilled some of his drink onto the hard wood floor.. “Sooooo many people have uploaded photos of Jim. I think it’s funny.”
“Less people are gonna probably post ‘im though,” Noah commented as he tapped away at laptop.
All of his friends nodded in agreement. “You’re right.”
Oikawa tilted his head to the side in confusion. “How come?”
Noah looked up from his game and stated, “Well I mean like since he’s taken. I’m surprised that no one knew that you were together. It should’ve been so obvious. Hell, I didn’t even know.” Everyone around them nodded in agreement again.
At this point, neither of them had bothered to correct Iwaizumi’s friends anymore. They had tried at the beginning of it all, but their words seemed to go over their heads.
But that wasn’t the part that Oikawa focused on.
It was the fact that it worked.
His plan actually worked.
A warm sense of pride filled his chest as he felt a bright smile tug at the corner of his lips.
No more annoying girls or guys trying to hit up his best friend anymore. No more irrelevant people taking up his time. No more people stealing his Hajime away from him; just as things were supposed to be.
“Like look at his lock screen.”
“And the way he looks at you.”
“And the way that he’s letting you sit in his lap.”
It was only then did Oikawa realize that he really was sitting in Iwaizumi’s lap. Two arms of thick corded muscle wrapped around his middle, his back pressed firmly against Iwaizumi’s front. Heat crawled up his neck and he did his best to not meet the green eyes staring at him.
“You two are like the perfect couple.”
Those words echoed in his head through the entire night. Through all the party games, all the sporadic conversations, even when Iwaizumi insisted that Oikawa sit back in his lap after he left to use the restroom.
The perfect couple… Hajime and Tooru... Tooru and Hajime…
Oikawa prayed that his partly drunken state would be enough of a cover for the blush that was burning him inside out.
⊹₊⟡⋆
Oikawa was clingy. He always was.
As kids Oikawa would follow him through the forests chasing bugs and running around the playground tripping on their own feet as they played Godzilla. Even all the way through high school, Oikawa had always found a way to be close, to be near, to hold onto Iwaizumi like they were physically a part of each other.
So it shouldn’t be much of a surprise to Iwaizumi that when drunk, Oikawa was even more so stuck to his side like a leech.
“C’mon, Iwa-chan, make more room for me,” Oikawa whisper-yelled as his elbow jammed against his ribs. He tried not to wince in pain as he half-drunkenly shimmied along the sheets.
“It’s a small bed you idiot I’m trying,” he quietly countered (or attempted to quietly do so) as he pushed himself closer to the wall in an attempt to make room.
Oikawa pouted and whined. “I wanted to be by the wall.”
Iwaizumi blinked for a long second and grumbled as he moved places so Oikawa had his (limited) space against the wall. “God you’re infuriating…” It was a tangle of limbs underneath the sheets as the two struggled to fit in the small bed and find a good comfortable position.
Even in the dim lighting, Iwaizumi knew that Oikawa had that adorable infuriating bright smile on his face as the two of them finally settled down together. He bit back a smile of his own in the dark.
“I like your friends.”
Oikawa’s voice was soft and quiet in the deep night.
Iwaizumi hummed. “Yeah? That’s good. They like you too.”
Leading up to Oikawa’s arrival, Iwaizumi had been quietly praying and hoping that his new friends would at least like Oikawa. After tonight, it was clear how much of a fan his friends were of Oikawa. How they easily integrated him into conversations, made him laugh with their broken Japanese, English, and Spanish mix.
It was everything that he had hoped for.
“I’d hope so. Especially if they thought that I’m your boyfriend the entire time.”
Iwaizumi froze.
It wasn’t like his friends had never heard of Oikawa before. Of course he talked about him (and if he talked about Oikawa daily, he’d make sure that information never reached his ears or else he’d never not hear Oikawa tease him about it on the daily through emojis and texts). And if his friends had assumed that Oikawa was his boyfriend and Iwaizumi just so happened to fail to correct them, then was there any harm in a little mistake?
He stayed quiet.
“How come you never corrected them?”
This time, Oikawa had maneuvered themselves so he was sitting up, a hand on Iwaizumi’s chest as he looked down at him. The dim lighting of the moonlight was enough for him to see how intensely those brown eyes were staring down at him.
“How come you were stalking that Instagram page?” Iwaizumi tried to ask.
Oikawa sighed and Iwaizumi could feel the tension behind his breath. “Don’t change the topic, Iwa-chan. I mean, they’re your friends. It isn’t the first time they called me your boyfriend since I landed, and you’ve never said anything about it.”
There were so many things running through his mind. Wouldn’t it be easier this way? For him to pretend that Oikawa was his boyfriend and for the two of them to pretend that it was just a joke and that Iwaizumi didn’t actually feel anything for him? Wouldn’t it be easier to try and label whatever they had going on between them for years as something as simple as “boyfriend” even when they both knew that this connection ran deeper?
“Tooru…” His voice sounded weaker than he realized.
“Hajime…” Oikawa echoed.
Iwaizumi rubbed his face. “Tooru, we’re drunk.”
“And?” Came his quick response.
God, Oikawa was going to kill him one day. He was going to launch him off a cliff, drown him in the depths of the sea, strap him to a rocket and send him to space.
If there was anything Oikawa was always good at, it was cornering him. There was no one else like Oikawa who had the ability to strip down any walls that he had up, even those he didn’t even realize he had built between the distance. Oikawa always knew what he was thinking, that he was hiding something, that there was always more to the story than he told.
On or off the court those calculating eyes were always watching him.
“And… if we’re going to talk about this, I want to do this with a clear head.”
Silence followed.
“Hajime…” His voice sounded as delicate as the strings of moonlight filtering past the blinds. “What do you mean?”
Iwaizumi gulped. The desperation weaved into his tone, the way his hand was clenched into a fist, the way his eyes wouldn’t meet his own. Stripped him down to the bare basics of who he was. Someone who had his entire heart dedicated to one person.
The truth was that there was no one else that Hajime could make so much room in his heart for. There was no one else that he loved more than Tooru. No one else who knew him inside out and would still stand by his side. No one else who could fit back into his physical life like he did. No one else who he could ever dedicate himself to,
It was Tooru.
It had always been Tooru.
And even in his half-drunken state, he knew deep in his heart that it would only ever be, Tooru.
“I mean… if you want me to profess my love for you that’s been building up since we were kids, we’re doing it tomorrow. After we sober up. After a greasy breakfast. After we get over the hangover.”
Silence.
Iwaizumi began to panic.
Had he been reading it all wrong? Did Oikawa not feel the same way as him? The long night talks, the closeness, the touching, the looks, how he said his name; it couldn’t all really just be because they were friends, right?
But even if Oikawa didn’t feel the same, it wasn’t going to stop Iwaizumi from loving him with all his heart. He would be content knowing that he experienced a love that ran so deep into the marrow of his bones. Even if Oikawa didn’t feel the same, he would still stand by his side and watch as he fell for another. His heart would always belong to Tooru even if it wasn’t reciprocated.
Yet some part of Hajime’s heart begged for Tooru to feel the same.
Oikawa’s voice was tender in a way he had never heard before. “... you love me?” Before he could take it back, he could hear the warm sound of Oikawa soft giggling to himself. “You love me? Hajimee~”
The anxiety he harbored began to fizzle away as his happy laughter filled his head.
He was pathetic, wasn’t he? (And still half-drunk. Of course he would spiral himself into thinking that Tooru hated him.)
“Didn’t I say that I was going to tell you that tomorrow?” Iwaizumi scoffed as he felt his face grow warm. The nerves melted away one by one as he heard the bubbling excitement and lightness in his laughter. “N-now come on let’s get to sleep. It’s late and the hangover is gonna suck.”
“Oh? Is my little Iwa-chan embarrassed over how much he looooves me~?” Oikawa teased, pinching his warm cheek. Flustered, Iwaizumi did his best to bat Oikawa’s hand away and turn away from him.
His voice was slightly muffled against the pillow. “Y’know what? I'll take it back.”
Oikawa leaned over him and nipped at his ear. “Take what back? Didn’t you say that you weren’t going to confess your undying everlasting love since childhood for me till tomorrow? Unless you’re doing it right now…~”
Iwaizumi took his pillow and smacked Oikawa in the face before pulling him back down onto the bed so they could sleep. Oikawa let Iwaizumi wrap his arms around him once more and readjust so they were both comfortable once more. They laid in bed like that for a few more long moments, their chests rising and falling with exhaustion in unison.
“...hajime loves me…” the other quietly murmured against Iwaizumi’s chest. He hoped that Oikawa didn’t hear how quickly his heart was beating.
Eventually, his eyes grew heavy and sleep began to tug at the corners of his head.
“Hajime, are you still awake?” He distantly heard in his barely awake state. Just as he began to drift off into sleep, he could just barely hear Oikawa mumble, “I’ll tell you I love you tomorrow too.”
He missed this.
Albeit the hangover, it felt nice to wake up next to Tooru again.
A smile warmed his face as he let his chin rest on the top of Tooru’s head.
The way their bodies easily fit together, the smell of Tooru’s overly expensive shampoo and conditioner, their skin touching, legs tangled together, the light dusting of freckles on his cheeks and the tops of his shoulders.
Even through his pounding headache, his mind had drifted back to conversations held the night before and he bashfully smiled to himself.
It felt a little pathetic thinking of everything that had been said between the two of them. The backwards unintended confession, the fact that he said he loved Tooru, and the fact that Tooru said that he loved him back. Another giddy smile shined on his face as he admired the sleeping figure tucked against his chest.
Tooru loves him. Tooru actually loves him.
Loves as in is currently in love with him and god does Hajime hope that he never stops loving him and that he never stops loving Tooru.
He stayed still for a few moments longer, giving himself the necessary time to take in the scene in front of him and enjoy having Tooru cuddled up against him. For a professional athlete, he looks so cute and tiny in my arms, Hajime distantly thought to himself.
Looking to the side, he found a bottle of aspirin and two bottles of water on his nightstand. It was nice having friends who cared about the little things like this. Slowly, Hajime did his best to take a pill and wash it down with water to hopefully quickly quell the hangover. Though god he could go for an animal style burger with extra fried onions and a side of animal style fries too. What time did In-n-Out open again…? What time was it anyway?
Just as he was about to check his phone, he felt Tooru stir awake, pressing his face against the fabric of his shirt and squeezing Hajime tight.
Hajime ran a hand through his hair, long gentle strokes, feeling the soft locks fall through his fingers.
“Morning, Tooru.”
Tooru rested his chin on his chest and pouted. “Iwa-chan’s morning voice is too sexy.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “You want aspirin?”
“Sexy man taking care of me in his sexy voice. Irresistible.” Nonetheless, Tooru sat up and reached for the pain med and water. He couldn’t help but watch as Tooru tilted his head back and gulped down the water, a stray drop running down the corner of his mouth. Once finished, he wiped it away and looked over at Hajime with those big brown eyes of his.
Tooru smiled too brightly for someone who had spent the previous night drinking the night away. “Ready for a morning run?”
Despite his headache, Hajime was already kicking the blanket off. “You’re terrible, Tooru.”
“I’m an athlete, Hajime. Argentina has taught me how to party and still keep to my schedule~” He chuckled as he tossed Tooru something to wear.
Just as he pulled his sleep shirt up and over his head, two arms wrapped around his middle. “Do you know what else Argentina has taught me?” Tooru slowly said, his voice close and breathing warm against his ear.
Hajime had to suppress a full body shiver. “Hmm?”
“That if you want something, you have to take it for yourself.”
The warmth of his chest quickly disappeared and Tooru was already dressed and walking towards the door. “Three mile run. Beat me and maybe I’ll let you confess your profounding love to me first~”
Quietly, the door clicked behind him leaving Hajime still only half dressed.
A big smile cut across his face as he hurried to get ready.
Like hell he was going to get this far and not confess to Tooru first.
⊹₊⟡⋆
“You. Are so fucking stupid.”
After their morning run (in which Hajime did end up winning), the two had spent the morning together whispering soft “I love you’s” between even softer kisses. No one seemed to bat an eye if Hajime would quickly kiss his cheek as he passed and no one seemed to bat an eye if he dragged Hajime to shower with him and wash off the grime from the morning run. They had spent the rest of the morning cooking up some breakfast for the rest of Hajime’s friends before taking a walk around campus.
“What do you mean I’m stupid? You’re the one hiding things from me,” Tooru countered as he sipped on his over-priced sweet (too sugary, as per Hajime’s words) coffee (95% milk and sugar and 5% coffee, as per Hajime’s words).
“Hiding things? Tooru, you stalked a student-made UCI Instagram page, memorized the faces of everyone in a photo with me, stalked those people, and then hatched a plan to pretend to be my boyfriend and scare off people without me catching on that you were pretending to be my boyfriend. Tooru, you’re insane,” Hajime stated with a shake of his head.
Tooru scoffed. “Okay and? You’re still in love with me.”
He smirked as he saw the tops of Hajime’s ears turn pink from how hard he was blushing. Hajime suddenly found the tree that was opposite Tooru to be very interesting.
The pink on his cheeks turned to a deep red as Hajime wrapped his arm around his waist. “Whatever. You love me too.”
And wasn’t that the truth? All the denial, all the playing it off as just best friends things, all the ignoring the signs that were right in front of him for convenience sake; it was so silly especially when Hajime loves him back.
Loves as in is in love with him and has been and will be for a very long time.
It was like everything had fallen into place when he finally said it, I love you too, Hajime.
Like saying it was the last piece in the puzzle that he was purposefully trying to sabotage himself from finishing.
“I do, I really do love you, Hajime.”
He smiled into the kiss as their lips met. Hajime tasted bitter from his large black coffee and like coming home after a long arduous journey from sea. Tooru melted into the feeling, holding the back of Hajime’s head with his free hand and hoping that if they stayed there long enough, they could fuse into one being.
They were breathless as they eventually had to separate.
“I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to that,” Tooru breathed out.
Hajime chuckled. “Me too. Better get used to it if we wanna make use of your time here, though.”
Tooru blinked and tilted his head to the side. “What do you—” His eyes widened at the implication and he could feel his face turn bright red.
He quickly tossed his drink into the closest trash bin and threw Hajime’s disgusting (normal, as per Hajime) black coffee in as well before dragging him off to the direction of his apartment. Before the other could protest, he pulled Hajime in once more into a bruising kiss.
“Listen Hajime. Text your roommates that they’re kicked out for the day. We’re dropping by the convenience store to buy what we need and you are going to fuck me into the shitty small mattress you have for the rest of the day, understand?” Tooru stated.
Hajime blinked a few times. “I meant like I wanna kiss you whenever wherever but I like this better. I’ll text them right now. There’s a CVS across the road.”
The two of them practically began sprinting across campus laughing hand in hand.
Tooru looked at Hajime next to him and smiled.
He was so in love and there was no better feeling.