Chapter Text
Oikawa sighed, scrunching up his nose and pushing his glasses back up to the top of his nose where they usually rested. This was going to be a lot more difficult than he had originally thought.
"But Oikawa-sensei, this is just boring! I don't know why understanding about space is going to help me in life. I'm just gonna become a pro volleyball player anyway!" His student, a moody teenager with shaggy black hair grumbled, looking away from the table in front of him where his most recent test sat. His grade, glaring out at him in thick red pen, read 48%. This was his lowest one yet.
As but a second year teacher, this was the first time one of his students was failing and Oikawa was determined to nip it in the bud.
When he went to teachers college, Oikawa had had no idea of the challenges that awaited him. Many late nights filled with blood, sweat and tears, complicated work, plans that just didn't work out and of course, sassy students. Although the latter of those was easily managed with his upbeat attitude and winning smile.
"Oh, Nanase. Don't worry, I know that your head isn't just filled with volleyballs! It will just take some more work and extra tutoring, okay? We will just have to tell your volleyball coach that you will be late to practices for a little while!" Oikawa sounded so confident, he even managed to convince himself. He grinned, and the two ironed out a plan before he dismissed his student and allowed himself to collapse onto his desk.
Yawning, Oikawa stretched his arms up, feeling a few soft clicks in his shoulders. He looked around his familiar classroom where he had been teaching science for the last two years. He could remember how nervous he had been, starting out. The room was bare, nobody knew him and he was sure he'd be laughed at. Now the room was filled to the brim. Posters lined the walls from projects, pictures, anchor charts and class goals. Shelves were stocked with glass jars containing just about everything, floating in murky liquid. Their class pets, two snakes they had found on a class walk, rested peacefully in their tanks at the back of the room. The room was lived in and that made Oikawa immeasurably happy.
In high school, nobody would have ever pegged Oikawa as a future educator of children. He was silly (still is), flirted too much (still does, when he's had a few too many at the bar), skipped classes and focused all of his attention on volleyball. He was an amazing player, skilfully guiding his team to victories. He had his eyes set on going pro - that is, until in his third year a knee injury took him out of the game. He was furious, unable to believe that something as small as a bad landing had ended his career. Days fell into weeks where nothing seemed to matter. He didn't feel. He just floated.
That is, until he watched Star Wars for what must have been the millionth time and he was lamenting about the beauty and intrigue of space when suddenly something clicked for him. Space. Science! His second love that he had mostly kept hidden to his bedroom for fear of being ridiculed. The miscellaneous alien t-shirts, bulletin board filled with "alien sightings" and stacks upon stacks of space books and DVDs. It was nerdy and he loved it. Years later, lots of decisions and many moments having had passed, Oikawa was here. At an impasse.
He crossed his arms, staring down at the test. His student, Nanase Haruka, wasn't stupid. He was just awful at applying himself. This he could work with.
Oikawa began collecting his things, shoving all his unmarked tests into his galaxy-printed binder. He dropped all of his things unceremoniously into his bag, plopped in his laptop, checking his phone briefly before deciding it'd be best to get it over with fast. He headed out of the classroom, locking it behind himself.
Heading out of the junior wing, Oikawa waved goodbye to the other science teacher, Nishinoya Yuu. "Careful not to cause any more explosions!" Oikawa winked as he left with a chuckle. Although the two were insanely different, they had managed to come together over the last year and had become close friends. Oikawa could even stand Nishinoya's loud and obnoxious roommate, Tanaka Ryuunosuke. Oikawa heard Nishinoya shout something from his room and the possible sound of a small explosion, but when the fire alarm didn't go off he continued on his merry way.
Continuing down the hallway, Oikawa briefly checked his watch - which was simple and black, except if you looked closely, the hour and minute hands were a jedi and sith lightsaber, respectfully - to check the time. School had ended about 45 minutes ago, which meant that the volleyball team would be practicing for at least another 30 minutes. That gave him enough time to head down to the staff room to warm up a mug of tea.
As he set on the kettle, Oikawa wracked his brain. Who was the volleyball coach again? If he remembered correctly, it was the new physical education teacher. He had just started a month ago at the beginning of the school year so Oikawa didn't really know him. He had also spent the entirety of their last staff meeting looking at Doctor Who collectibles on eBay and trying out all the filters on SnapChat, sending all the winning photos to Kuroo Tetsurou, his colleague who also loved the app. And snapped him back from the other side of the room. Needless to say, he had missed the introduction.
Iwaizumi. Hajime?
Oikawa nodded, that sounded right. He poured some hot water and a tea bag into his favourite mug, a plain white one that read "Is it tea you're looking for?" It had been a gift from Akaashi Keiji, and humourously enough, Oikawa had also gotten him a mug reading "I figuratively die when I literally hear you abuse those words", which he enjoyed pointing to when his students were getting out a hand in a Psychology debate.
Oikawa crept out of the staff room. It was quiet, but that wasn't unusual considering it was a Friday and everyone practically high-tailed it out of there once their students poured out. As he headed towards the stairs to trek down to the gym, a voice rang in his ears. "Tooru!" A silver-haired man poked his head out of the Home Economics room. "I'm trying out a new recipe for some cookies. Come give them a try!"
"Oh, Koushi-chan! You know I am weak to your sweets!" Oikawa practically sang, following him into the room. It smelled amazing, as always, like freshly baked goods and a hint of pineapples. A smirk settled on his lips at the sight of his friend - a bit of flour on his face, hair mussed and a pink frilly apron tied securely on to his frame. He looked so adorably domestic. Daichi Sawamura was a lucky man for landing him.
Sugawara handed him a small bag tied up with some cookies in them, and a whiff of Oikawa's nose told him they were chocolate chip, with a hint of something, cinnamon maybe? He took a bite and nearly melted into the floor, falling back against a counter. "Oh my god Koushi. These are phenomenal." He gushed further about the cookies, depleting nearly half the bag before remembering that he had somewhere to be. "Oh, Koushi! The new phys ed teacher. His name is, uh, Iwaizumi Hajime, right?" Oikawa asked around a mouth filled with cookies.
Sugawara at least had the presence of mind to swallow his treat before answering. "Tall, dark and handsome? Well, probably not as tall as you. But yes, that's his name." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, earning an eyeroll from Oikawa. "Like I have time for that, Koushi. Besides - if he's that hot, he's probably straight."
Sugawara simply shrugged, but allowed Oikawa to head out. "Have a good weekend!" Oikawa grinned as he headed off, bounding down the hall. He munched on another of his cookies as he approached the gymnasium. He could hear some faint squeaking, but not the typical thud of volleyballs, so practice must have been over. Oikawa crept in, looking around skeptically. His eyes settled on the man cleaning up volleyballs in the far end of the gym. He was listening while Oikawa's student, Haruka, was talking to him, but Oikawa couldn't make out the words. He waited and let them talk until Haruka noticed him, speaking animatedly to Iwaizumi and motioning Oikawa over.
Oikawa approached with a grin but when Iwaizumi turned around, Oikawa felt his stomach drop.
Well, shit.
He was fucking gorgeous. Tanned skin, ripped muscles peeking out from beneath his t-shirt, strong thighs visible from below his gym shorts.
All aboard the gay train!
Oikawa prepared his best smile, offering it cutely to his co-worker. "You must be Iwaizumi-sensei. I'm Oikawa, it's a pleasure to meet you," He offered a hand, which Iwaizumi shook in ernest. He had a very firm handshake, but it wasn't the only part of him that was firm.
Down, boy!
"Nice to meet you as well, Oikawa. Nanase-san has informed me of the situation." He nodded at the student, who praddled off towards the changing rooms. When he was gone and it was just the two adults, Iwaizumi visibly relaxed a little bit. "So how bad is it?" He asked with a chuckle.
God fucking damn it that laugh-
"Oh, it's not that bad. He has potential, I just need to figure out how to get him motivated. All he seems to think about are volleyballs."
Unlike me, who is thinking of a different kind of balls-
"It shouldn't interrupt practice too much. I know he's serious about volleyball, so I don't want to take him away from it more than I have to." Oikawa smiled and for a moment, he could have sworn that Iwaizumi blushed, but it disappeared so quickly he brushed it off as exertion from the training. "How is the team shaping up?" He asked, feeling a pang of nostalgia being back in the gym. Oikawa briefly looked around the room which was mainly unfamiliar to him. The squeak of volleyball shoes, pang of the balls hitting the floor after a good serve, cheers from the cheering squad, how good Iwaizumi would look pressed up against the mats and-
Fuck fuck fuck what are you some thirsty teenager? Calm it!
"They're doing pretty well! We've got some good defensive players, we're just working to improve our offense..." Iwaizumi probably kept talking, but Oikawa was too busy calming his inner horny teenager to hear any of it. "We just need another faculty advisor before we can start trying to get into away training camps..."
The pair were interrupted by a fierce, loud and drawn-out roar, causing Iwaizumi to jump. Oikawa reached for his pocket to check his phone, where he noticed a few new messages from the group chat his co-worker Bokuto had put together. He muted it before turning his gaze up to Iwaizumi who was frowning.
"What the fuck was that thing?" He demanded, crossing his arms.
"That thing?! That thing is the one and only brave and noble resistance fighter, Chewie! I will not have you talking so poorly of him."
"Chewie? As in, uh, Chewbacca? That's... Star Wars, right?"
Oikawa gasped, taking a step back and bringing a hand to his heart, wounded. "Iwa-chan! Do not tell me you have not seen Star Wars."
Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I have seen Star Wars." He wasn't convincing anyone. "And what did you just call me?"
"That's it, Iwa-chan, I need your number please. This is blasphemy. Sacrilege! We need to remedy this." Oikawa pulled out his black phone, offering it to Iwaizumi, who regarded it skeptically.
"If I give you my number, you better not send me any weird shit, okay?"
Oikawa smiled mischeviously. "Weird shit? So mean, Iwa-chan! I wouldn't dream of it."
He broke his promise that very night.
Iwa-chan ヽ(´▽`)/: Oikawa. Space puns count as weird shit.