Hajime panted as he received a volleyball that was served right into his hands. Sweat dripped down his face, but he ignored it. "Over here!" he called as he ran up to the net on the right-hand side. Oikawa set the ball to him and he spiked the ball down onto the other side.
Hajime's side cheered, and Hajime grinned at Hanamaki, who had unsuccessfully blocked Hajime's hit. Hanamaki scowled at him. They were in afternoon practice and their coach had set up a practice match. After their loss in their practice match against Karasuno (mostly due to Oikawa recovering from a knee injury), it felt good to play well again.
He glanced at Oikawa, who was patting Watari on the back for an amazing receive a couple of minutes earlier. The captain was smiling one of his genuine smiles. The ones that shined brighter than anything else in the room, the ones that were just so contagious Hajime couldn't help but smile too, the ones that made Hajime's heart flutter whenever...
Wait. ...What?
Hajime's heart was beating far too wildly for him to concentrate.
Oikawa was beautiful.
How did he never realize before?
He glanced back and forth between Oikawa and everyone else in the room. Watari, Kunimi, Kindaichi, Hanamaki, Matsukawa, Yahaba... They all emitted the same plain aura, the one where, if they weren't all Hajime's friends, Hajime would look right past.
Oikawa was the only one who... glowed. Everything about him, from his perfect, soft brown hair that Hajime always loved to touch and pull on to annoy Oikawa, to his chocolate eyes that melted every time he saw something he loved (most of the time, it was when he saw milk bread), to his mouth that could somehow always create that smile that left Hajime breathless and wanting more, to his perfect, long fingers that could always set the ball tailored exactly to what Hajime could spike the ball best. Hajime had always been looking at Oikawa, he realized, to the point that he didn't even realize Oikawa was extraordinary.
"Do you like him back?" Hanamaki had asked him, a few hours before. "Try observing him during practice. You'll find the answer that was probably already there waiting for you."
"I'm in love with him," Hajime whispered as everyone crouched down on his side of the net crouched down, ready to receive the next ball.
The truth was, Hanamaki was right. Hajime had probably been in love with him ever since they were mere children. When he first met Oikawa, he thought he was a stuck-up, spoiled brat. But over time, he realized Oikawa was a dreamer. He'd always rant constantly about alternate universes and aliens, and when they were in elementary school, Oikawa picked up his first volleyball. And loved it. He had begged Hajime to play with him, and Hajime saw a side to him that he had never seen before. There was a burning desire and passion to excel in this sport, to become the greatest setter the world, no, the universe, had ever seen. It was something that always mesmerized Hajime. He had always assumed it was a best friend thing. Was it really not normal to look at your best friend like that? Still, it was something so special that Hajime did sometimes wonder what it could be called.
Now he knew.