kicking things off with some good 'ol cliché iwaoi as it should be.
~*~
"You're still here?"
Oikawa pasues in throwing the ball up for a serve, and narrows his eyebrows at the sound of Iwaizumi's voice coming from the door behind him. The squeak of his trainers echo around the empty gym as he turns around to lock eyes with his best friend, who's changed out of his volleyball gear and is now wearing a baggy t-shirt and shorts. Oikawa hasn't changed yet, instead heading straight for the gym as soon as they made it through the front gate.
He thought he was free from Iwaizumi's lectures at last when the ace didn't appear to follow him, but judging by the droop of his normally spiky brunette hair and the faint glistening of his neck, Oikawa realises that Iwaizumi went for a shower before coming to get him.
"We lost, Iwa-chan," the setter states plainly. "There's no need for me to be worried about getting enough sleep for the game tomorrow."
Oikawa stares, eyes narrowed at Iwaizumi's blank expression for a few more seconds before the brunette chuckles dryly, folding his arms over his chest.
"We still have practice tomorrow morning and afternoon, and actual lessons," Iwaizumi reminds. "You need to be able to stay awake for those."
Oikawa clicks his tongue, agitated. He knows Iwaizumi's right - Iwaizumi's always right - and that fact only irritates him more. How could Iwaizumi be so calm and collected about the fact that they just lost their last opportunity to take on Ushijima before they left for college? The fact that Karasuno beat them? God, he can still see Kageyama's smug face from on the other side of the net after Hinata had scored the winning point.
His grip on the ball in his hands tightens, and he turns abruptly away from Iwaizumi, resuming with his serve. When he tosses the ball in the air, he pretends that he's in a match again. He watches the ball and only the ball, how it spins in the air above him before falling, perfectly in reach and in the right place for a powerful serve. He goes to take a run at it, and he gets about halfway before a hand appears in front of his face, and the momentum of the ball stops as it lands snugly in Iwaizumi's hand.
"Ignoring me is one thing," the spikey-haired ace says, and Oikawa dares to turn his head to look at him. "But making me come in here and work up a sweat after I've just showered because you can't handle the fact that we lost one game is another thing. Seriously, Shittykawa."
Oikawa feels his blood boil as he absorbs Iwaizumi's words. One game? That was not just one game. That was the game. The chance for them to finally beat Ushijima and get to nationals. Their last game as members of the Aoba Johsai volleyball club. The anger in Oikawa's chest soon becomes too much, and he attempts to snatch the ball from Iwaizumi, but the ace isn't letting go.
He pulls more and more, feeling tears of frustration, sadness, anger, remorse bubble in his eyes before the weight of it all comes crashing down on Oikawa's shoulders and he squeezes his eyes shut before yelling out all of his emotions and pulling on the ball so hard that it pulls Iwaizumi too, and the brunette ends up falling to the gym floor, pulling Oikawa down with him.
The ball long forgotten, Oikawa falls completely on top of Iwaizumi, and immediately scrunches his hands in his best friend's t-shirt, gritting his teeth.
"How can you say that?!" He yells, heart beating a mile a minute. "It wasn't just one game! This was our last chance, Iwa-chan! Our last chance to push through, and that stupid Tobio and his stupid shrimp stole it from us just like that!"
Oikawa pauses as he watches the tears from his eyes drip onto Iwaizumi's cheeks, and the fact that the brunette still isn't reacting only pisses him off even more.
"Doesn't that make you angry? Doesn't that make you wanna scream? Cry? Doesn't that make you just wanna do anything?" He shouts, voice cracking as more tears fall from his eyes. He begins shaking Iwaizumi by the grip on his t-shirt, pulling and pushing his best friend to the ground just to make him feel something. Why doesn't Iwaizumi feel anything?
Oikawa squeezes his eyes shut again, finding it too painful to look at Iwaizumi's stoic face, only to open them again when the brunette places a warm hand over Oikawa's, halting his violent movements. When the setter opens his eyes, he gasps when he sees the speck of tears in the corners of Iwaizumi's eyes.
In that moment, Oikawa becomes too weak and tired to hold himself up. Instead, he lets go of Iwaizumi's t-shirt and his head falls on his best friend's chest, his body trembling with poorly concealed sobs as he pants and splutters out shaky breaths. He clenches his fist next to Iwaizumi's head and finally lets a cry escape his lips as he slams it down on the gymnasium floor.
"Damn it!" He cries, bringing his fist down over and over again while sobbing brokenly into Iwaizumi's chest. His body is shaking, the extent of how hard he's worked for this and all the many emotions he felt in just one day - excitement, nervousness, anger, hatred, hope, resentment - were clearly beginning to catch up to him. The adrenaline begins to wear off, leaving harsh realisation in its wake.
Iwaizumi lets him get most of it out before he puts his hand out where Oikawa keeps hitting the floor, blocking the rough contact with the palm of his hand and squeezing Oikawa's fist. Oikawa lets Iwaizumi slide his fingers into the gaps between his, feeling his chest and heart ache when the ace squeezes his hand gently.
Iwaizumi's other hand finds purchase on Oikawa's waist, squeezing reassuringly before sliding an arm around his waist to hug him. Oikawa just keeps crying - hoarse hiccups and broken sobs until he physically can't cry anymore and his voice is almost gone.
"That's it," Iwaizumi whispers, squeezing Oikawa's hand again. "That's it."
"I-Iwa-chan," Oikawa whimpers wetly. "I'm so a-angry, Iwa-chan. I wanted to fight with you and Makki and Mattsun 'till the end. I wanted to give you the nationals game you've all been dreaming of, and I couldn't even do that."
"That's not on you," Iwaizumi reassures against Oikawa's ear. "You fought with all your might. We all did. Karasuno just fought better. That's just how it goes. I'm angry, too, Oikawa, but think of it this way: when was the last time you fought that hard?"
Oikawa opens his eyes against Iwaizumi's chest, and raises himself just enough to still be supported by Iwaizumi's arm around his waist, but enough for him to be face to face with Iwaizumi. The ace's tears are still unshed at the corners of his eyes, and Oikawa can't believe how composed he's being about this.
"You gave it everything you had, Oikawa," he whispers into the space between them, squeezing his hand again. Oikawa can start to feel the pain throbbing in his fist and winces, causing Iwaizumi's eyes to widen in worry.
"My hand," Oikawa mutters, voice still hoarse from the crying. "I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Iwaizumi gives him a small smile before tightening the arm around Oikawa's waist and sitting up, causing Oikawa to end up sitting in his lap. Not that that hasn't happened before, they just happen to be a lot more secretive about it, not letting either of them indulge in the middle of the gym. "You can come back to mine and I'll put some ice on it."
"I don't need you to babysit me," Oikawa mutters, looking away from Iwaizumi stubbornly.
"It's not babysitting," Iwaizumi replies. "It's making sure you're ok."
Oikawa's attention is brought back to Iwaizumi when the brunette runs the backs of his fingers down his cheek, moist from crying. He then cups Oikawa's face when Oikawa is looking at him again and smiles when Oikawa nuzzles his face softly into Iwaizumi's palm.
"Come on," he urges gently. "Let's go."
Oikawa lets Iwaizumi help him up, helps him pack away the equipment and clean the floor, lets Iwaizumi hold his hand the whole walk home, and lets him hold him when they try to sleep. And even if Oikawa has a hard time sleeping and ends up in tears several times throughout the night, Iwaizumi holds him the whole time and tells him they'll get them next time.
~*~
welcome to the book i was supposed to make 4 years ago! :D
