CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
How had this happened again?
Misaki blamed it on her finishing the anime she was watching a little too early. Monday, that was supposed to be her day-off, was somehow always spent doing something with Oikawa. Even if she was at home, Oikawa would be texting her about something or trying to make her hang out with him and do something together. Even when it was just days before their summer break, he was still doing the very same thing.
So it would be safe to say that Misaki was annoyed.
"Why do you always have to do this, Oikawa?" She asked, crossing her arms and glaring at the boy. He was standing in front of the door of her house, a pleading look on his face and the sun shining down on him. "Why don't you ever ask Iwa, Makki or Mattsun?"
"I do, but they always say no! I don't even know why."
"Because you're annoying, that's why."
"Misa-chan! Just say yes, please! Takeru will be excited to see you there! I'll even buy you lunch for the next week."
"Make it two and I'll think about it."
"Done!"
Misaki sighed, rolling her eyes at the same time. "Give me two minutes. I'll grab my jacket and phone."
"Thank you so much, Misa-chan!" Oikawa said, grabbing her hand and shaking it a little too hard. "You're a blessing."
"Well obviously, I am," Misaki said as she turned back to go back inside the house. Why did she keep on doing this? She did not understand at all. Every time Oikawa asked, she always ended up saying yes, even if it took a lot of convincing. Whenever she thought about saying no, somehow, she ended up feeling that Oikawa would be rather sad (which was kind of stupid), so she just ended up saying yes. It's not like it was bad hanging out with him; he was actually pretty fun when he wanted to be.
But Misaki's eagerness to do things for Oikawa really surprised her sometimes. And she never understood it.
In exactly two minutes, Misaki was done finding her jacket and her phone and was out the door with Oikawa. The sun shone above them as they walked towards Takeru's house.
"You owe me, Oikawa," Misaki remarked, poking him with her elbow. "You owe me a lot. Don't think you're gonna escape from buying me lunch. I'm not gonna forget your promise."
"You act like I forget everything I say to you," Oikawa replied, laughing. He tried to drape his arms over her shoulders, but she just pushed him away and stuck out her tongue at him. "When have I ever not done what you said?"
"All the time?" Misaki said, a mildly incredulous look on her face. "Do you want me to make a list?"
Oikawa, at least, had the decency to look sheepish. "No, it's okay. I don't need a list."
"I think you do. So, this year, there was the time when you -"
"Misa-chan! Stop! Don't say another word!"
"Oh no, I'm gonna continue. And heck, I'll even tell Takeru about it."
"Misa-chan, you are pure evil! If you say anything to Takeru, then I'll-"
"You don't even know embarrassing things about me."
"I still have the recordings of the time you were sleep talking at the last movie night we had with everyone."
"Oh hell no."
Oikawa smirked. "Oh hell yes."
"Delete that. Right now." Misaki glared at him, her eyes darkening over.
"Nope. I'm keeping it. They're precious."
"Oikawa...I'll kill you."
After lots of bickering and bantering and after picking up Takeru, Oikawa and Misaki had finally arrived at the Lil Tykes Volleyball Classroom. Misaki hadn't been here before, but Oikawa clearly had. Some of the coaches even recognized him and Oikawa, being the nice guy (and no, she wasn't being sarcastic) carried out polite conversation, putting on his dazzling 'media-worthy' smile while Misaki stood to the side, awkwardly introducing herself. The area was full of kids playing around with volleyballs and standing in front of the net, which was much lower than the height she was used to seeing. The adults were standing outside the lines of the court, watching and cheering their little ones.
All in all, it was a surprising cool place. 'Did I ever come here before? Because it's pretty cool being here. Some of these kids are really good too.'
Suddenly, Oikawa popped up in her field of vision. "Misa-chan, what are you so distracted for? Come on, we need to find a good spot to sit down."
"What, are we sitting on the floor? Misaki asked as Oikawa grabbed her wrist, tugging her along as they walked around the crowd of parents to find an empty spot.
"Is that okay?" Oikawa turned around, looking at her with a questioning look. Misaki merely nodded. She didn't really mind sitting on the floor; besides sitting on the floor gave her a better vantage point to view the plays, even if they were amateurish. She just really liked watching volleyball.
"Well, this isn't that bad actually," Misaki said, a small grin on her face. She turned to look at Oikawa, who sat next to her and was currently giving her a curious look. She poked him with an elbow. "How come you never asked me to come here before?"
"But you just -" Oikawa started to say, but trailed off seeing the fascinated look in her eyes. Oh god. That look...he did not like the way it was making his heart feel.
"I like watching volleyball, you know? In fact, I think I might come by on my own sometime; to pick up techniques that you can learn from these kids."
"Okay. Wait-! Misa-chan, that's not very nice of you to say! Aren't you the one who always says I'm a good player?" Oikawa asked, whining. Before Misaki could say anything in reply, Takeru came running up to them.
"Oi, Tooru, take my watch," He said, practically throwing his watch at Oikawa's chest. Misaki snickered as Oikawa let out a huff of pain. She raised her hand for a high five and Takeru promptly obliged, before running back on the court and grabbing a ball to join the play.
"Takeru's just as fun as always, I see," Misaki giggled as Oikawa glared at her, while putting away Takeru's watch in his yellow bag pack. "I like him."
"Misa-chan, please don't corrupt my nephew," Oikawa said so seriously that it made her laugh even harder.
"Oh please, he already knows how you are," Misaki said. "I don't need to corrupt him or do anything like that. Spending time with you has probably made him immune to your stupidity and non-existent charms."
This time, Oikawa lightly shoved her shoulder, sticking out his tongue at her. Misaki rolled her eyes, before turning her attention to Takeru and the other kids playing. Takeru, it looked like, was a pretty good spiker. For his age, his spikes were pretty powerful, almost like Iwaizumi had been back then. Takeru would definitely make a good spiker in the future if he continued playing volleyball. Which, Misaki thought, he probably would. Especially if he trained with Oikawa, who would ensure his nephew became the best player in the world.
Before long, it was Takeru's turn to serve. At that very moment, Misaki realised that Oikawa had taken out his phone and like a proud uncle, was clicking photos of Takeru. He had a soft, but utterly proud smile on his face, and her heart nearly skipped a bit.
'Since when does he smile like that?' Misaki thought to herself, now looking at Oikawa rather than Takeru. 'It's...it's pretty nice.'
This wasn't even his usual smile; there was something about this that made it different. Maybe it was because it was a smile that was reserved just for his nephew and maybe it was because there were absolutely no ulterior motives behind it. It was just a normal, annoyingly pretty smile.
'He should smile like that more,' She thought in a daze, as she kept on looking at Oikawa. 'It's way better than his other smiles.'
Then, what she was doing finally struck her. She immediately averted her eyes, her cheeks growing warm and stared at the floor. 'What was I doing?!! Why the hell was I staring at him like that?'
The sudden movement hadn't gone unnoticed by Oikawa, who decided it would be the perfect moment to take an awkward photo of Misaki. Pointing his phone towards her face, he said, "Misa-chan, will you look here for a second?"
The moment she did, Oikawa immediately clicked the photo and then put his phone away. Misaki glared at him.
"Oikawa, what the hell?" She hissed in anger. "Don't go around clicking pictures of me without telling me. At least give me a warning before you do that."
"Wait, you'd willing allow me to take pictures of you?" Oikawa asked, sounding a little more shocked than he should be.
"Don't sound so surprised," Misaki answered, rather blunt. "But you have to warn me when you do that. At least, I'd look good that way."
"But you always look good, Misa-chan." A second later, Oikawa realised what he had just said and he almost turned red. Almost. But, as he looked at Misaki, he realised that her cheeks were faintly red. She looked cute like that. Oh no. Not again.
"Thanks, I guess," Misaki looked away, the blush on her face still clearly visible.
"It's not like I was lying," Oikawa said, realising that he'd like to keep seeing that tiny blush. Even though it felt wrong on so many levels to flirt (was this even flirting though?) with her so soon after his breakup, he just wanted to see that blush and that shy smile Misaki had. "You're very pretty. Almost as pretty as me."
"Now that's a backhanded compliment," Misaki grinned slightly. "But thanks still."
Oikawa let out a soft laugh, ruffling her hair like he usually did. But this time, Misaki did not slap his hand away like she would usually do. He, somehow, resisted the urge to run his fingers through her hair. They were in public and he was sure if he did, she would definitely kill him. And besides, he had just broken up with Himeko. He shouldn't even think about showing affection like this.
But this was Misaki. His best friend. Arrgh. This was so confusing. He let his hand rest on the top of her head for a few more moments than necessary then promptly removed it. It would be better not to do anything or act on whatever the mess of feelings he had going on.
"You good?" Misaki suddenly asked, giving him a concerned look.
"I'm a-okay," Oikawa answered, grinning and making the 'okay' sign with his right hand. "Let's watch Takeru play now."
The volleyball class was finally over. Parents were leaving with their kids, older siblings with their younger siblings and the odd trio that was Misaki, Oikawa and Takeru left together. Just like his usual self, Oikawa was bickering with Takeru and Misaki was watching in the background, laughing at how childish he sounded.
"Show me how to serve, Tooru!" Takeru spoke loudly, holding onto the straps of his little backpack.
"Hey! How about showing me some respect first?" Oikawa said, sounding a little irritated.
Misaki snickered at the look. "Yeah, why don't you teach him how to serve, Oikawa?"
"Misa-chan, not you too," Oikawa added, now practically glaring at her. She kept on laughing though.
But then, a very familiar voice called out Oikawa's name. Misaki let out a surprised noise. Of all the people, she had not expected to bump into Kageyama at a volleyball training class for little kids.
"W-what are you doing here, Oikawa-san?" Kageyama asked, sounding a little shocked.
"Misa-chan and I are watching my nephew," Oikawa plainly said.
Misaki awkwardly waved at Kageyama while Takeru let out a loud "Hey!"
"H-hey," Kageyama answered back, sounding rather hesitant. Then, he turned back to Oikawa and Misaki. "What about practice?"
"We usually have Mondays off," Oikawa sounded a little too blunt at this point. But she could understand why. It was Kageyama after all.
"You guys take a break once a week? What a waste!" Kageyama sounded a little more shocked now.
"Getting rest and ditching practice are two different things. See ya." Oikawa started to walk away, after saying an awkward goodbye.
"See ya around, Kageyama," Misaki said, a little more politely. Putting a hand onto Takeru's shoulders, she also started walking away, following right behind Oikawa.
"Oikawa-san, um," Kageyama started to speak, but before he could do so, Oikawa interrupted him, sticking out his tongue like he was a little kid.
"Nope! Stupid! You're stupid! You stupid face!"
"Oikawa-san, u-"
"Nope! Can't hear you! Can't hear a thing!"
"He's being pretty lame, isn't he?" Misaki leaned down and whispered to Takeru, as they both stared at Oikawa with similar deadpan looks. She already knew this, but Oikawa could be very childish and immature when he wanted to be.
But then, Kageyama suddenly bowed. That caused Oikawa to stop his teasing and look at the younger boy with a slightly curious look. Misaki wasn't that surprised though. From what she remembered of Kageyama from Kitagawa Daiichi, he was a very respectful person and had been very polite whenever they had interacted.
"Please, listen to what I have to say," Kageyama said, his head still bowed.
"Why should I go out of my way to listen to what my opponent is going to say?" Oikawa asked, stony faced, before promptly walking away. Misaki kind of expected that; with what had happened during middle school, she wouldn't expect Oikawa to even want to help him (and she thought he shouldn't).
As they made their way down the stairs to leave the classroom area, Kageyama practically jumped in front of them, still pleading and bowing. Oikawa shrieked and Misaki and Takeru just stared.
Oikawa steadied himself and gave Kageyama a once-over. "Takeru?"
"What?" Takeru asked.
"Take a picture," Oikawa handed over his phone to his nephew. "Hold it like this and press here."
As Kageyama tried to look up to see what was going on, Oikawa spoke again. "Don't move, Tobio."
Misaki rolled her eyes, stepping away a little. He was really embarrassing sometimes. And he sounded so happy about the damn picture too. It seemed that Takeru also shared the same concerns, which he voiced out loud.
"This picture actually makes you happy?" He said. "Talk about lame."
At his words, Misaki snorted as Oikawa glared at them both. Covering her mouth to hide her giggles, she put her hand on Takeru's shoulder and pulled him away to the side, letting Oikawa and Kageyama have a little privacy to their conversation. Though, she could still hear them.
"Do you wanna see something even more lame?" Misaki leaned down next to Takeru, pulling out her phone.
"More lame than Tooru pretending to be busy, even after his girlfriend broke up with him?" Takeru whispered back.
"Yes," Misaki said, snickering as she did so. She opened her phone and scrolled through her gallery. But before she could find the photo she was looking for, Oikawa called for both of them.
"Let's go, Takeru, Misa-chan."
"Take care, Kageyama," Misaki said, nodding her head in his general direction before standing up straight and following Oikawa. Takeru followed suit.
And soon the three of them were back in the neighbourhood, surrounded by houses, rather than empty parks and tall trees. Oikawa cheerily hummed a tune under his breath.
"Are you in a good mood, Tooru?" Takeru asked as he returned Oikawa's phone back to him.
"I'm happy that Tobio's more run down than I thought he was," Oikawa sounded rather contended. Misaki peeked over his shoulder as he scrolled through his gallery, tapping on the photo Takeru had clicked.
"I'm totally blurry!" Oikawa suddenly cried out.
Misaki started laughing, loudly. "You so deserve it. Maybe if you were a little less mean, then the photo would have been."
"But it's Tobio-chan!" Oikawa whined. "I don't have it in me to be nice to him."
Poor Takeru; he just looked confused.
But if she thought about it, this day had turned out a lot more fun than Misaki had expected it to be. She wouldn't admit it out loud; but it definitely felt better than being stuck in front of her TV not knowing what to watch. And Oikawa had called her pretty; so that had felt pretty good.
But why though? Why had that made her more happy than she had expected?
It was just Oikawa being annoying...right? Right. That's all it was.
(Would it be bad to say she wanted to hear more compliments from him?)
AAND we are finally getting to closer to a moment I've been itching to write since I started planning this fic. I can promise you that the next few chapters are gonna be a lot more light hearted and there's going to be some really cute moments between Misaki and Oikawa. I know this chapter was a lot shorter, but consider it more of a filler chapter than anything. The next chapter is going to be a lot more fun; I promise. HINT: it's the birthday of two people.
Till then, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Let me know your feedback in the comments!