step 2: attention

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"i-wa-chan~!"oikawa yelled as he jumped on iwaizumi's back, disrupting the others peaceful conversation with his friends. before oikawa could say a thing he felt atsumu's and osamu's burning gazes on him.

"you again?" iwaizumi sighed, oikawa quickly got his feet on the ground and peeked over iwaizumi's shoulder, putting his chin on it and acting cute.

"yes, me again. you're so cold to me, iwa-chan!" oikawa heard the twins laugh and glared at them, ah, if only iwaizumi stopped hanging out with them, maybe then his plan could actually start working, but no, the two of them just had to be with iwaizumi all the time. if he wasn't with the twins, then he was with daichi, if he wasn't with daichi then he was with one of the first years named shoyo - oikawa could not catch him alone. and he has been trying for a week now.

iwaizumi was the toughest nut so far, no crack in its shell. since oikawa was in the same class as him, he tried getting his attention more than a dozen times every single day, starting from the very morning. it was easy to figure out where he lived, once oikawa got his soft hands onto that information, he began greeting him in the morning, making up a lie that he started a new route. at school oikawa would constantly start a conversation with him, during lunch he would sit next to him, and while going back home he would chat with him non-stop. 

iwaizumi was as hard as stone, but if oikawa wasn't making any progress he wouldn't have continued pestering him. for the first couple of mornings, iwaizumi ignored him, but now he was actually talking to oikawa, he wouldn't shake him off his back anymore - overall, things seemed to be moving in the right direction.

the day was rainy, oikawa had no intention of going home without getting some new achievements. the bell rang for the last period and the miya twins said their goodbye to iwaizumi. they glared at oikawa once more who was still resting his head on iwaizumi's shoulder. the latter turned around and faced oikawa, he didn't seem mad, well, maybe a bit annoyed. "fine, i'll tutor you. will you stop pestering me if i do?", he asked and oikawa's eyes lit up with happiness. he took iwaizumi's hand and squeezed it tight.

"yes! that will be much appreciated, but i still want to sit with you during lunch" oikawa chuckled. iwaizumi cracked a smile and pushed oikawa slightly, he murmured something along the lines of 'let's get to class, oikawa' and walked right past him.

during the week oikawa got to know things about iwaizumi that he wouldn't have known any other way, those things, as weird as it may sound, made oikawa more interested in iwaizumi than he originally was. there was something about this guy that just seemed so surreal, even though he looked like a tough bloke - he was actually... so graceful.

oikawa learned just how diligent iwaizumi actually is, while he wasn't dumb himself, iwaizumi followed the information quite easily, plus, his notes are extremely neat and well sectioned. whatever answer you are looking for - it's probably in his notes, he may have the meaning of life somewhere there.

oikawa also got to know how many kids in the neighborhood depend on him. they did live in a small town of hakone and oikawa never knew they lived in the same area, but he had never seen so many kids love someone so much. apparently iwaizumi was known in the community as the guy who would spend a couple of hours with kids on a saturday so that parents could go out and have some fun. he played with them, told stories and so on. 

iwaizumi, apparently, also likes tending to his flowers. yes, he owns four flower pots and each of them is absolutely perfect, there is not one wilted leaf. everything oikawa thought he knew about iwaizumi wasn't true. people around school assumed that he was really into sports, someone who spent his weekends with his friends till midnight, someone who had little compassion for others - oh how misinformed they were.

and now, seeing iwaizumi smile for the first time, oikawa realized just how handsome he actually was. how come he didn't pay attention to that? he was so caught up on getting the bet over with that he failed to notice the defined features of the man he was pursuing. oikawa sighed before turning around and catching up to iwaizumi, he stared at his back, marveling at how well defined his muscles were. 

he wanted to focus strictly at the bet that was placed in front of him, but as each minute passed he caught himself thinking about other things iwaizumi would like. he wondered what his favorite games were? what about movies? what food did he like the most? was he a good cook? or perhaps he was a secret artist? how much does he work out? what other friends does he have? is he dating someone? what does he think of oikawa? - all these questions yet not one answer. it wasn't like him to be so interested in such small details about someone...

the lessons seemed to pass in a blur for oikawa, his mind was full of questions he wanted to answer, he couldn't focus at all. the easy and small tasks seemed so hard now that he was out of focus. what was the teacher saying anyway? 'one-quarter of anchovies makes for a good war weapon' or something along those lines. iwaizumi, as always, was calm and collected. while oikawa was drifting in the clouds, floating slowly - iwaizumi had his feet on the ground, he was standing firm.

the bell rang after what seemed like only a few minutes, the students were discussing a homework task oikawa failed to take down, his eyes were fixated on iwaizumi's hands. you could see the veins quite clearly, they moved swiftly as iwaizumi finished writing whatever he had to write. hands... such an unimportant feature that no one would look at, but oikawa couldn't help it. there was something about him.

"oikawa?" iwaizumi's voice invaded oikawa's mind. the other finally blinked and looked up, iwaizumi's figure loomed above him.

"yeah?" oikawa asked, his mind still hazy from all the daydreaming. 

"the bell rang a few minutes ago, it's time to go" iwaizumi let out a small laugh. 

"y-yeah, sorry, i was just a bit lost in thought... you waited for me though..." oikawa said, it was quite surprising. 

"i'll make a mental note to not do that next time"

"no, please. i appreciate it"

"...let's get going now."

oikawa couldn't help but smile to himself, iwaizumi came for him. he cares. he gave oikawa attention, he gave him his time, and now he was even going home with oikawa. what else could he ask for? iwaizumi was no longer walking in the front, no, he was walking with oikawa in an even line, matching his steps to him, even if it was rather slower than what he was used to. 

the clouds in the sky drifted faster and faster, oikawa once again found himself lost in thought as he listened to what iwaizumi had to say about the lessons, but to the latter it was clear that he wasn't listening. why? well, iwaizumi started quoting avatar the last airbender midway and oikawa kept nodding.

"hey, oikawa?" iwaizumi turned to him at the crossroad where their paths separate.

"yeah?"

"give me your phone number"

"huh? why?"

"i'm gonna tutor you, remember? we'll set the date and time"

"oh... okay, works for me"

"then, see you around, oikawa" and with that iwaizumi turned around and walked away, leaving oikawa to stare at his fading figure, wondering about what things were going to come.

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Stan Zuko or DIE

Anyway here's an amazing mashup for you

Hope everyone is doing alright!

-Hatari

𝐥𝐢𝐞 ||𝐢𝐰𝐚𝐨𝐢|| 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 Where stories live. Discover now