The bang of the door being thrown open reverberates through the empty gym. Hajime's hands twitch, itching to reach for a weapon he never carries anymore. He thinks vaguely that he should get the locks on the door changed because he had been positive that he'd locked it before they began.
"Oikawa!" A familiar voice calls out. Tooru sits up from the weight bench with his usual devious smile playing on his lips as he rubs at his sore arms.
"Tobio-chan! Have you come to play with us?" he calls back in a singsong voice. Hajime considers knocking him in the head but he kind of wants to see where this is going. It's been a while since Tobio has come to visit either of them. Since his high school graduation, he's been focused more on his volleyball career than anything else.
"Why the fuck did you go to Brazil?" the dark-haired teen demands. Hajime figures he should stop thinking of Tobio as a kid but even at nineteen he still seems so young. Hajime knows that he himself had felt ancient at that age, but Tobio was different. He'd gotten to grow up with his grandfather, going to school like any other kid. His past probably still haunts him though, Hajime knows how that feels. Even now nearly ten years since he was actually in the field Hajime can still feel those horrors hiding inside him.
"Brazil?" Tooru asks innocently, tilting his head to the side in a way that makes his curls sway. "Iwa-chan when did I go to Brazil?"
"Two weeks ago, for a recruitment," Hajime plays along amused.
"Hinata Shouyou," Tobio growls out the name. "You went and recruited Hinata Shouyou."
"Oh yeah!" Tooru hops up from the bench. "The cute little tangerine I met on the beach."
"Don't play stupid Oikawa. You know that Hinata is, Hinata was... We're..." Tobio's face reddens as he tries to think of an appropriate word. "You knew that me and Hinata went to school together!" It takes all his willpower for Hajime to keep a straight face at that.
"Oh yes, I think I read about that. Well, It's not like you've contacted him at all since graduation," Tooru rolls his eyes and takes his bottle of water for Hajime's hand.
"You shouldn't have recruited him! He's an idiot and... and he's supposed to be focusing on volleyball so he can be a proper rival!" There's practically steam coming out of his ears at this point.
"Hmm," Tooru takes a long sip of the water, Hajime watches his neck as he does so. "Sorry Tobio-chan, I only recruit people that fit the requirements and Chibi-chan was a perfect fit. It was his choice to join you know."
"Then recruit me!" Tobio demands. Tooru freezes at that and he casts a glance in Hajime's direction.
"No," They answer at the same time. Tobio clenches his hands into fists and glares at both of them.
"If Hinata fits the requirements then so do I. Recruit me. That idiot will get himself killed before he even goes on his first mission!"
"You wouldn't pass the physical," Hajime says. Tobio's eyes darken and his hand falls to rest on his hip, where the angry red brand still mars his skin.
"You guys can get me around that,' He insists. Hajime just shakes his head, they could do it. Matsukawa could perform Tobio's physical, he's already aware of the brand and he would be willing to fudge it if Tooru asked him to. But it's just not that, the mark would put a target on Tobio's head any time he was in the field. If it ever got revealed there's no doubt that The Academy would come for him.
"It's not going to happen," Tooru says crossing his arms. His face looks way too smug though and Tobio takes his words as a challenge.
"Recruit me Oikawa."
"No."
"Recruit me or I'll go to the hospital right now and get a physical," Tobio threatens. That makes both of them freeze. If Tobio goes to the hospital his brand will be seen by the doctors, it'll be documented in a file, put into a system. The Academy will come for him.
"You wouldn't dare," Hajime considers hitting Tooru's head again. This isn't something he should be challenging Tobio on.
"Hinata needs me to protect him. You would do the same for Iwaizumi-san," Tobio points an accusing finger at Hajime, and Tooru's frown deepens.
"That's different."
"How?"
"Because Iwa-chan and I have been together since we were toddlers! Because I lo-... Because we have a relationship," Tooru catches himself but it's too late really. It's alright though, Hajime isn't some damaged kid anymore. He can handle the idea of love, the idea of loving Tooru.
"So what? Since I only knew Hinata for four years it doesn't mean as much?"
"I mean you have spent the last year ignoring him," Tooru shrugs.
"Are you going to recruit me or not?" Tobio demands. Hajime watches as Tooru's shoulders sag just a bit, he can see the weary look in his eyes.
"Is that what you really want Tobio? Do you really want to be a part of this life? You've seen what it does. What it turns people into."
"Why did you recruit Hinata?" Tobio asks, some of the fight leaving him. For all their bickering the two of them are still a lot alike. Tobio has always looked up to Tooru, seen him as a role model.
"We've had our eyes on Chibi-chan for a while, we're not the only ones either. I thought it best that we got to him before someone else recruited him," Tooru doesn't have to say who it was that had their eye on Hinata. The boy was athletically gifted and it was easy for anyone to see his potential to be an amazing agent. Plus as an athlete, it would be easy to send him anywhere in the country under the ruse of playing volleyball.
"Was it them?"
"We picked up some rumors from one of our double agents, nothing confirmed."
"Okay, this is what I want," Tobio says, neither Tooru nor Hajime miss the slight tremor in his hands. But the boy's eyes are filled with determination and it's clear that they've lost this fight.
"I'll send a car for you tonight," Tooru says finally. Tobio lets out a relieved breath and nods his head before turning and walking right back out of the gym. Tooru's shoulders slump and he lets himself fall back. Hajime rolls his eyes and steps forward so Tooru falls against his chest. He tilts his head back to rest against Hajime's shoulder.
"One of these days I'm going to let you fall," Hajime warns him, wrapping his arms around Tooru's waist anyway. He doesn't need to see Tooru's face to know he's grinning.
"I only do it because I know you're going to catch me," Tooru says, softer he adds "I didn't mean to say that... what I said earlier."
"You don't have to apologize."
"Do you hate me?" Tooru asks.
"You're as stuck with me as I am with you," Hajime's said that phrase a thousand times and it will never change. He presses his lips to Tooru's neck and mouths the three words he's too much of a coward to say out loud.
"Can I stay with you tonight?" Tooru asks.
"Let's go to your place so you don't have to wake up," Hajime presses one more kiss to Tooru's skin then stands him up straight before moving away to clean up their belongings.
"Fine," Tooru sighs.
"Why did recruit Hinata?" He asks, hoping to change the subject. Tooru is quiet for a moment before he answers.
"Just like I said. There were others looking at him and their methods of recruitment are a lot crueler than ours."
"You knew Kageyama would join if he did though."
"I... It was a risk I had to take. Hinata is too close to Tobio-chan. If he'd joined The Academy it would have only been a matter of time before they figured out who Tobio was," Tooru sits to remove his knee brace. "It's the same reason... I recruited Tsukishima."
"You what?" Hajime turns to stare at him. "Fucking hell Kuroo is going to skin us alive."
"It's his own fault. If he'd just taken the time to fill out the next of kin paperwork like I told him to then Tsukishima wouldn't be such a damn grump all the time. He probably wouldn't have even needed any prompting to join The Academy at the rate he was going."
"Damn it Shittykawa I didn't take all that time teaching him to fight just for him to use it for Fukurodani. I told Kuroo I would keep an eye on him," Hajime tosses a mostly empty water bottle at the brunette's head. He grins in satisfaction when Tooru lets out an undignified squawk.
"It'll be fine. Kuroo will be back eventually and they can solve all their shit without the secrets and lies."
"I'm letting Kuroo skin you first." Hajime slings his arm over Tooru's shoulders and presses a kiss to his head. "How's your knee? You didn't push it too much did you?"
"It's a little stiff but I'm fine Iwa-chan."
"Guess you can walk upstairs then," Hajime says letting him go and heading for the stairs at the back of the gym that lead up to his apartment.
"Ah no wait! Iwa-chan carry me! I wanna feel like a princess!" Tooru yells after him. Hajime just laughs as he unlocks the door and heads upstairs.