unwanted demons | iwaoi

Memories

Memories.

The negative memories come with a cost, as addictive as they feel, once lessons are learnt there is nothing in them of value. The positive memories come as a friend with a picnic basket, they are good and nourishing, supportive and kind.

Being at the cafe at the same time as Iwaizumi was brought back memories the brunette never dreamt of reliving. Memories of those days they would spend studying, or those days they would spend just talking with the occasional playful banter. He remembered how Iwaizumi had first discovered his tail and wings.

And then he remembered him leaving

Oikawa remembered the pain in his chest when he realised that Iwaizumi was no longer contacting him

And if a switch had been flicked...
The most hysterical crying, the screaming sobs only interrupted by the person's need to draw breath. It was a primal sound, one we're programmed not to ignore. Of course it didn't take long for Iwaizumi to move closer and wordlessly wrap his arms around him. Waiting before uttering "I'm here, I'm not leaving" which was followed up by a:

"How do I know you're not leaving?"

"Because I promised you at graduation"

Yet another memory. A memory that to this day stood out clearly in Oikawa's brain. So at this very moment Tooru's hysteria has stopped; as if it had never even started, he cuddled into Iwaizumi's warm and welcoming embrace.

His muscles relaxed and tensed multiple times before finally resting. "Can I just talk about something?..." the brunette finally spoke as a waiter put down a cup of coffee and water.
"Go ahead shittykawa"

"Well...I was often over your house when we were kids. It was a place to hide and you knew it, but not once was I ever made to feel unwelcome or hurried out the door. It was a safe haven when the storm invaded my own home, my own space. School was hell every day In middle school and home just rocked back and forth between comfort and harmful. Without you, without the gentleness of your personality...well, anger too, I don't know what would have happened" he paused to inhale a sharp and somewhat anxious breath

"I was never stable, not really, but always there was you. You've never just been a good friend to me, you've been one of the rocks of my life - an anchor point...and when you cut contact when you went to university...it broke me iwa-chan. My heart physically hurts thinking of it and I-"

"Does it still hurt now?...now that I'm back with you" Iwaizumi asked and sat up to take a sip of his drink with an arm around Oikawa's waist to pull him in closer

"No...it doesn't hurt right now" he seemed to pause for a moment to take in what he had said "yeah- it doesn't hurt when you're around" Oikawa repeated the same thing in a different wording and as if on instinct, putting a hand on Iwaizumi's shoulder

"Then let me be your knight...I won't leave this time I swear- I swear I'll help you whenever you need it and-" the ravenette looked around himself quickly to check for onlookers "I don't care about your wings either"

"You used to tell me how you loved my wings"

"I did...and I'll tell you again. Over and over and over again until you can see it for yourself" their time of nice and gentle cuddling was over as soon as Tooru turned his head away.

Iwaizumi was quick to turn the others face back round and pull him close "your wings was what made me realise my love you for you...your wings was what made you seem so far away, so out of my league...your wings" he had to stop for a moment to lick his lips and swallow down the growing knot in his throat "your wings are beautiful Oikawa Tooru. Demon or not" He had whispered the entire thing right into the others ear. A soft whisper which held a true and proper meaning that showed love and love only.

"Iwaizumi I-"

"So please...try to see  just how beautiful they are" For that few moments everything was silent.

A new memory had been made, one that Oikawa would never forgot, one that Iwaizumi would treasure. "I'll believe what you say" there was a sudden pause for Tooru to take a sharp inhale "but first I need to buy groceries" the tension was lifted in an instant- both let out a soft chuckle

"Groceries! I'd forgotten we'd even came for lunch, let alone the fact we were going to buy groceries-" Iwaizumi chuckled as he sat back upright in the chair with Oikawa.

"I could go without th-"

"Don't even start"

———

Oikawa ate the food like he thought it was poisoned. Each forkful was tinier that you'd feed a baby and even then he nibbled it, pausing before taking any more. He was careful too not to allow the food to touch his lips. If this is the way he ate every meal it was easy to see why he was so thin. At least that's what Iwaizumi could guess anyway.

Iwaizumi however could be described like a kid with a bag of mixed candy. He'd pick all his favourite things off the plate first and then, when he was half satiated, pull a face at the rest of the meal. Like he was looking at a bag of liquorice and aniseed balls while the flavour of fudge still played on his tongue. To Tooru it was rather adorable.

And so after they ate they were quick to pay and head to the grocery store. Iwaizumi knew that Oikawa's parents were hardly ever there, he could tell that as in recent years this had only become worse "when was the last time you saw your parents again?..."

"About 6-7 months ago...they've been paying all the bills though, so I just need to pay for electricity, water bills and food..." Iwaizumi has never been one to move on an accept. He blamed himself for leaving the poor brunette all on his own in that house for so long. It must've been torture for oikawa to just sit there alone and wanting someone to comfort him.
Tooru needed him and he wasn't there to help.

"I'm paying for a few weeks shopping alright? You can put the food in the freezer" he looked over to the side to see that Tooru's lips had turned upwards to form a weak yet...hopeful smile "thank you Hajime...thanks for coming back"

Iwaizumi was rather confused by the somewhat irrelevant comment made by his now lover as he put a few things in the basket "it's not a problem, I'll always be here from now on"

"You will?"

"I'll stay until you tell me to leave, until you tell me I'm not needed. Until you can say you're happy with living on your own in that god forsaken house..."

Oikawa stopped walking and stared wide eyed at the floor "iwa-chan..I'll never be happy in that house"

"Then I'm never leaving"

"Even if I move someplace else?"

"Then I'll follow to make sure you're happy"
Iwaizumi thought they had finished and without a second more Tooru's eyes went back to a very familiar yet off sight. The same happy, child-like eyes that oikawa had given him the moment he realised he could fly "good luck with that iwa-chan...but I wouldn't want it any other way"

"We're beyond the point of return iwa-chan"

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"Not when it means I get to be with you"

And those few words made both their hearts flutter.
——————

wing
/wɪŋ/

noun
plural noun: wings

1. A rigid horizontal structure that projects from both sides of an aircraft and supports it in the air.

Iwaizumi was Oikawa's wings

FIN

A/n
If you liked this book go check out my new one! Vampire boy, it's iwaoi!