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Iwaizumi was going to kill Makki.
He, for some reason, thought that it was a good idea to send Iwaizumi 437 texts during class. This was made even dumber by the fact that they are both in the same class, are seatmates, and were dealing with the strictest teacher of the batch. It was last period, too, which means he definitely could have waited another half hour to send them. Yes, it seemed like a good idea to murder Hanamaki. Due to the fact that his phone was not set on do not disturb, it set off with what seemed to be a million pings. The teacher was glaring at him, seemingly telling him to shut down his phone or there would be very big consequences. Hajime, not being one to test his teachers, shut his phone down without another thought.
Finally, school let out for the day. Thankfully, it was a Friday, which meant no volleyball practice. He pulled his phone out of his pocket outside the classroom, ignoring Hanamaki, who was leaning against his back to peer into his phone. He opened the messages, and- oh.
Four years ago, Iwaizumi would have denied liking Oikawa, let alone knowing him. The second part was to rile the other up, but the first was to protect himself. He embraced his feelings three years ago, leaving him the sappy, lovestruck idiot that he is today. Over the three years, he’s grown closer to Oikawa than he could have ever imagined. He knows all of his flaws, all of his imperfections. He knows the way he cries himself to sleep some nights, and he knows how to make it better. He knows that Oikawa Tooru is the ugliest crier in the whole damn world. He knows that the only thing that can really comfort Oikawa is physical touch because he needs something to ground him, and more often than not that something is Hajime, being one of the very few people to know how to handle and tell the difference between Tooru’s tantrums and breakdowns.
So, yeah. Iwaizumi Hajime is a little whipped for Oikawa Tooru, but he didn’t think it was to this extent. Looking down at one of the pictures, he can tell how unbelievably wrong he was. It’s a photo of them heading back from a practice match. They were at the back of the bus, with their legs spread out across the four seats, Oikawa in front of him, laying and sleeping on Hajime’s chest. Picture Hajime had a fond but thoroughly exhausted expression, and was looking down at Oikawa. He moved to another photo. This one was a photo of Oikawa feeding him. They’re in the school cafeteria, and Oikawa was holding a piece of chicken to Iwaizumi’s lips with chopsticks. Iwaizumi’s mouth was open, and Oikawa was resting his head on his fist. This time Oikawa was the one with the soft expression, looking at Hajime like he only had eyes for him. Iwaizumi’s voice was stuck in his throat.
“Me and Matsu should become photographers, huh?” Makki said with a grin on his face.
“Shut up. Just shut up. Where did you two even get these?” Iwaizumi’s breathing was so shallow, he wasn’t sure if he was even breathing at all.
Makki shrugged. The two started to slowly walk to the front of the school as they talked. “You two aren’t exactly subtle, you know. Even Kyoutani could tell.” Hajime scoffed. “Kyoutani could tell what? That we were two close friends?” Makki smiled. “No, he could tell that you two had an absolutely humungous crush on each other. He asked Yahaba, you know? Yahaba thought that you two were already dating. They came to me and Issei and asked if we knew anything.”
They had reached the front of the school. Iwaizumi leaned against the wall and went through some more of the pictures. They seemed to start from their second year of school, and the latest one looked to have been taken during today’s lunch. The third photo he saw looked like it was taken after practice a week ago. Oikawa had made a bet with Kunimi that if he ran and jumped at Iwaizumi, he would catch him. It halfway worked, he supposed. Instead of having picked him up in a classic bridal carry, he grabbed him around his waist and pulled him close, leading to a sort of “piggyfront” situation because he was holding a volleyball in the other hand. In the photo, you can see Oikawa happily yelling and holding Iwaizumi’s cheeks in his hands. Iwaizumi seemed to be blushing and yelling at Oikawa, and Kunimi was groaning in the background.
In the next, it was the four of them at a ramen shop. Mattsun was the one taking the photo, happily throwing up a peace sign with an arm around Makki with Oikawa and Iwaizumi in the background. Oikawa was drinking water, a bowl of spicy ramen in front of him. Iwaizumi’s hand was on Oikawa’s back, offering him some of his own water with the softest expression on his face. He wasn’t even aware that he could look like that. His body was slightly in front of Oikawa, looking concerned but also laughing a little.
“Iwa-chan, what are you looking at?” Oikawa’s arms were thrown around Hajime, head leaning on his shoulder. Hajime turned off his phone and turned around to ruffle Oikawa’s hair. “Nothing, how was class?” Oikawa didn’t answer him, instead choosing to pout and fuss over his hair. Makki and Mattsun were in the corner, Mattsun’s arm around Makki’s waist as Makki whispered into his ear. Mattsun’s eyes raised to meet Iwaizumi’s, his eyebrows raised. Hajime promptly ignored him and went back to Oikawa.”-takes to style this hair? You should be very apologetic, Iwa-chan.” Hajime just looks at him with a mixture of fondness and amusement on his face. “You want to keep talking about your hair or rush home? We need to get there in time to do that Barbie movie marathon you wanted.”
Makki and Mattsun’s heads snap to them, both looking equally betrayed. “You guys are doing a Barbie movie marathon without us?” By this time, Oikawa has grabbed his hand and taken off running, not giving the two a chance to chase after them.
–
Being thoroughly exhausted after watching the movies, they choose to order some food because Iwaizumi’s parents are out of town and neither of them wants to cook. They settle back down until the food arrives, Oikawa having convinced Iwaizumi to put on a mask with him. A minute after they take off the masks, the food arrives and they dig in. They mess around while eating, both used to the company. They decide to stay at Iwaizumi’s house, given that Oikawa already has two whole drawers dedicated to him. They sleep on the same bed, too, because hey, when you’ve been friends for over a decade there are some things that you’re automatically comfortable doing. And if Oikawa sometimes wakes up on Iwaizumi’s chest, well, no one else has to know.
Oikawa, asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, was snoring, cuddling Iwaizumi’s left arm. Iwaizumi’s right arm was preoccupied, looking through the rest of the photos, taking in his lovestruck expression in each. Shit, maybe this is bigger than I thought.
Maybe he has an enormous, showstopping crush on Oikawa. So what? He couldn’t tell him anyways. Might as well just ignore it and hope it’ll go away, he thinks. But it doesn’t. After his realization, it only grows. It’s been a good two months, and with Makki and Mattsun hounding him to confess, and the photos sitting in his gallery eating away at him, he doesn’t think he can keep his sanity without saying anything.
–
“Jesus fucking Christ, Iwaizumi, just confess. It’s about time that you’ve noticed how huge of a crush you’ve had on him, and I congratulate you and whatever, but haven’t you noticed how big of a crush he has on you?” Mattsun seemed like he was on the verge of giving up on them, but he still had some determination left in him. “It was the same when I got with Hiro, but I sucked it up and asked him. Get some semblance of courage, and just confess! Trust me, he would absolutely love it. Even better if you did it in a quiet spot, he would completely melt.” Hajime sighed in resignation. “Fine. When should I do it?”
–
Iwaizumi was holding a box of Oikawa’s favourite chocolates. He had asked Oikawa to meet him here, in the park. He wasn’t prepared. It wasn’t exactly fine, because if things went wrong it could completely ruin his and Oikawa’s friendship, but if they went right… Hajime didn’t want to let himself hope.
“Iwa-chan! I am here to grace you with my presence. What was it you needed that you told me to be at the park in 15 minutes with no warning?” Oikawa seemed a bit annoyed, but Hajime assumed it was okay.
“Listen, Tooru… I just… uh, I got you a box of chocolates?” Iwaizumi shoved the chocolates into Oikawa’s hands, waiting a second before he started speaking again. “Okay. I like you, I’ve liked you for so long that it’s unbelievable that I haven’t burst yet. I like you, and it’s because of the everyday things you do that make you, well, you. I know you don’t like me back, but I just wanted you to know.” The entire time, he was looking at the ground. “Hajime?” He looked up and saw tears threatening to spill out of Oikawa’s eyes. Oikawa sniffles and proceeds. “Do you mean it? Do you mean everything you said?” Iwaizumi also starts to sniffle, tears building. “I mean every single word, Tooru.” Oikawa is full-on crying now, stepping closer to Hajime. Hajime brings him into a hug, letting Oikawa rest his head on his shoulder. One of Oikawa’s hands is covering his mouth, stopping any noise from exiting as his whole body shook with sobs. “Hajime,” he said, “I like you too.” Iwaizumi chuckled, resting his hand on Oikawa’s head. His own tears spill out, albeit fewer than Oikawa’s.
–
Oikawa and Iwaizumi were sitting on the couch, Oikawa’s legs on Iwaizumi’s lap. Makki and Mattsun were sitting in a large chair, Makki sitting on Mattsun’s lap and resting his back on the chair's armrests and his legs hanging off the chair. “Hey, Hajime, why did you ask me out?” Three heads turned to Oikawa, all equally unimpressed. “You ruined the immersion, Oiks.” “Shut up, Makki, and let Haji answer.” Iwaizumi looks away, staring straight at Mattsun, seeming to beg him to answer for him. Mattsun rolls his eyes and speaks. “Hiro sent him a bunch of photos of you and him together and because he’s so whipped and thinks you’re adorable he couldn’t stop himself.” Iwaizumi glares at Mattsun. “I am not whipped.” Oikawa pretends to faint and says “Oh my gosh, Iwa-chan loves me! Don’t worry, Iwa-chan, if Makki had sent them to me I would have done the same.” One big, sloppy kiss on Hajime’s cheek later, Oikawa settles back down, leaving the room with just the sound of the movie once more. Hajime looks at Oikawa, letting the feeling of love wash over him. He supposes the photos really were the direct cause of the confession. Oh, well. It helped in the long run. Right here, right now, Oikawa was with him. That was all he needed, and all he would ever need.