Close to despair

Tooru and Hajime: Origin

Today was such a good day!
The weather was so good, and Hajime's mom allowed him to go search for bugs, something she didn't let him do in a very long time, claiming that he brought them into their house.

So of course Young Hajime was even more excited when he was finally allowed to go search for bugs of all kinds again. So he left the house, dressed in shorts and a tank top, scoop net on his shoulder.

Upon coming out he relished the warmth and took in a deep breath of the sun. It just made sense to him. The sun always scented so bright, as if it was able to take all your problems and fears away.

Hajime knew exactly where to go; there was this really cool forest not far away from his home, and the place held the best bugs. There was a huge playing space, with a little lake and a playground. Not many knew of that place though, which meant that he was there alone most of the time. Hajime didn't mind. He didn't exactly seek out for social interaction.

Today was different though. After about an hour of catching lots and lots of bugs such as grubs, cockroaches and even some butterflies, he somehow noticed he wasn't entirely alone.
There, not far away from him stood a boy his age with voluminous brown locks and chocolate brown eyes. He held a volleyball.

Hajime didn't know what to do, since it would be rude to just interrupt the other, but the guy did seem interesting, so little Hajime just stood there and watched. He wasn't spying, since he wasn't hidden, and if the other boy just took a look to his right he could spot Hajime.

The boy kept on trying to hit the ball with a jump serve, but either his timing was off or he didn't jump high enough, so the ball kept on dropping to the ground. Hajime found it funny and he actually lost it when the boy received a ball with his head.

Hajime giggled and the boy noticed him. He turned around and looked at the other boy with a curious look. He hadn't noticed him earlier, and he frowned a bit at the thought that he had been watched the whole time, so he decided to walk up to the guy.

Volleyball in his hands, he skipped up to Hajime and stood in front of him without saying anything. Hajime stopped laughing and looked at the other boy with his brows drawn together. He was a bit reserved.

„Hi! What's your name?" The boy smiled at him brightly, volleyball still tightly clutched.

Hajime frowned even more. His mother told him to never give out his personal information.

„Why would I tell you?" he crossed his arms in front of himself, taking a step back. He could admit the other guy was funny, but he wasn't about to invite him over.

The other guy tilted his head, as if not understanding the question. „Uh... my name is Oikawa Tooru. Do you want to play with me?" This Oikawa ignored his question and instead asked one of his own.

„What are you playing?" Hajime asked.

„Uh- just like- the best sport ever??? Volleyball of course!" Oikawa let out a huff while putting one hand on his hip.

„Volleyball?" Hajime scratched his head „How do you play...?"

"Let me show you!" Oikawa grabbed one of Hajime's wrists and dragged him back to where he stood before.

And then they played. Hajime got introduced to Volleyball, which he found out made a lot of fun. Now he could play something different than "finding the best bug". Hajime liked the guy. He was a bit cocky and annoying, but Hajime liked him.

"I have to go now, mama said I have to be back before it gets dark." Hajime grabbed his scoop net and was about to go, but the other boy interrupted him.