"Makki" you called him and snapped him out of his thoughts. "Stop looking so incredulous. It's not like I told you something earth-shaking."
"No, that's not it. I mean, it might be not earth-shaking but have a bit mercy with me. I've to comprehend that my best friend has a crush on a good friend of mine" he responded.
You scowled at him. "Do you have to phrase it like that?"
Hanamaki gave you something of a teasing smirk (which was rare like snow in August) and picked up his bottle again.
"And you expect me to do what now?" he asked while taking a sip from it giving you a observing side-glance.
"Nothing. You asked what I was up with me and I answered you. That's all. I mean, it's Iwaizumi we're talking about. I don't think that he's any interest in me at all. Or something like that."
"Mhm" Hanamaki hummed. Wouldn't be it more likely the other way around?
He was sure that your last words could come from Iwaizumi. The ace had a little inferior complex when it came to girls since his best friend and captain always was overrun by fangirls. Though, Hanamaki knew a few girls who would highly appreciate a date with the ace. Including you now, how it seemed.
"Isn't it a bit of a rash decision to say he won't recognize you that way?" Hanamaki asked you with a slightly raised eyebrow.
You huffed and rested your chin at your drawn up knees.
"Don't know. Maybe. But he never seems to act different with me. He's just like, yeah, always? So, why should I get my hopes up?"
It's Iwaizumi we're talking about. Hanamaki sighed. Sure, he also never had recognized something odd in the behavior of the dark haired ace towards you...wait. He interrupted his train of thoughts and thought again about what he was going to think. Really never? He began to recall some events where you accompanied the four friends and Iwaizumi were highly occupied with being indifferent towards you. Not different towards you? A sly grin appeared on Hanamaki's lips.
Maybe not when he thought about Iwaizumi's behavior in your presence. A bit sounding the other guys out won't hurt, he decided.
"Oi. What's with that damn grin on your face, Makki?" you asked alerted when you recognized it.
"Nothing. Just thought about something" he answered trying hard to gain his indifferent and slightly bored expression again.
"I warn you, don't you dare to do something stupid" you scowled.
"Me? Never" he said and gave you his signature peace-sign.
You scrutinized his face with a skeptical furrowed eyebrows not reassured at all.
"Whatever" you murmured.
Somehow you had a bad feeling about this.
~°~°~°~
"Don't you think that Iwaizumi has a thing for [Name]?" Hanamaki asked out of the blue while the third-years were stretching after practice and mentioned ace was still with the coaches.
He could literally see how Oikawa's ears perked up at his question. Looked like he hit the spot. Or the cheerful setter was just too curious about something with that he could tease his best friend.
"What makes you think that, Hanamaki?" Matsukawa asked slightly interested in what his best friend was hinting at.
"Hmm" Hanamaki stretched his arms and looked up to the ceiling. "The way he tries to be as indifferent as possible around her?"
"Heeh. Interesting" Matsukawa said and mimicked his best friends actions. "I thought he just has no interest at all in her."
At this point, Oikawa chuckled which was his first reaction in this whole conversation. Strange enough that he didn't barge in sooner.
"Wrong, Mattsun~ It's like Makki said" Oikawa uttered with a bright smile on his face. "So, why do you ask, Makki? Did [Name]-chan say something interesting?"
Matsukawa and Hanamaki deadpanned at their captain. This guy was unbelievable. Oikawa looked confused at them.
"Huh? What?" he asked, innocence written all over his face.
"You do use it against your friends" Matsukawa said with a matter-of-fact-tone in his voice.
"What!?" the brunet setter whined pouting because of his friends attitude.
"Your observation talent" Hanamaki clarified leaning back to stretch his abdominal muscles.
"No!" Oikawa denied in an instead gesticulating indignantly with his hands. "Or at least, just if I can help my friends with it" he added a bit more quietly, head turned away slightly, a pout on his lips while he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Both, Hanamaki and Matsukawa, gave him a strange look but didn't comment on his last sentence.
"So, I was right about Iwaizumi?" Hanamaki ignored his captains antics and came back to his original question.
"What did [Name]-chan say?" said captain countered.
"That's not an answer, Oikawa." The fellow volleyball player sighed.
"Yeah, but you know something, Makki. She's your best friend after all~" the setter pointed out.
"Yes, that's why I'm not going to tell you everything she told me" the wingspiker responded unimpressed.
Matsukawa followed the discussion of his two friends with increasing interest and the odd feeling that they were up to something really outrageous. Which seemingly included Hanamaki's best friend [Name] and Iwaizumi in a quite romantic way.
"We can't work with that, Makki!" Oikawa complained.
"Maybe she said something. So, what's with Iwaizumi?" Hanamaki gave in a bit and came back to his own question.
Oikawa didn't seem to be satisfied with his answer but he took the hint and gave in.
"Yes, you're right. He was like 'No way she'll see something different than a friend in me' and kept his distance" Oikawa finally answered the question in a tone which clearly showed that he didn't like his best friends decision at all.
Heh, I was right. That sentence is totally lwaizumi. The light brown haired male thought.
"And you two are going to do what now?" Matsukawa latched into the conversation.
"Don't act like it hasn't to do anything with you, Mattsun! You're part of this!" Oikawa declared, index finger in front of Matsukawa's face who gave him a somewhat incredulous look.
"Okay, and we're going to do what now?" The tall middleblocker rephrased his question after his captains complaint.
The three males went quiet, each of them thinking about a method to set [Name] and Iwaizumi up.
"Let them play seven minutes in heaven!" Oikawa suggested after a short silence with an excited voice and sparkling eyes.
Hanamaki couldn't help it but he had to think of a puppy who got his favorite treat. A really excited puppy. All that was missing was that Oikawa would start bouncing up and down on the spot.
"What?" he and Matsukawa asked unison.
"Seven minutes in heaven! The funny party game where you lock up two people in a dark room, so - " Oikawa begun.
"We know what 'seven minutes in heaven' is" Hanamaki cut him off in mid-sentence. "And how do you want to do this?"
The pout which has appeared on Oikawa's lips because he got cut off by his friend disappeared and he started seriously thinking about it. Hanamaki had a point. It wouldn't be so easy to realize his idea. But he liked it, so he would definitely find a way...
"Ah! I've got an idea!" Oikawa exclaimed suddenly getting Hanamaki and Matsukawa to look at him expectantly. "What's with the
storeroom of the gym? I mean, we could -"
"Oi, what are you talking about guys? Your conversation seems quite lively." Iwaizumi's approaching voice ended their discussion abruptly and Oikawa winced, a frightened expression appearing on his face.
They turned to their teammate, obviously trying to hold a deadpan expression towards him.
"Nothing, Iwa-chan~" Oikawa chirped and waved at his best friend.
"Coming from you it means you're pretty sure up to something, Trashykawa!" the spikey-haired male responded with an irked expression appearing on his face.
"No! That's mean, Iwa-chan! Ouch! Iwa-chan!" Oikawa whined while he tried to dodge his best friend.
Hanamaki and Matsukawa watched their ace at his daily routine of beating up Oikawa with a sigh. It was funny, yes, but now they haven't been able to end their discussion with a satisfying solution.
"I'm going to text you later, Oikawa!" Hanamaki shouted towards the setter who was still on the run from Iwaizumi.
"Okay, Makki!"
"Hopefully, he's still alive later" Matsukawa uttered when he left the gym with Hanamaki.
~°~°~°~
Two weeks have passed since you revealed your feelings for Iwaizumi to Hanamaki. And nothing happened. Really nothing. You have been dead sure that Hanamaki might have came up with something really awkward and embarrassing for you but nope. Nothing. Everything was normal. Somehow a bit too normal since you still expected to get set up. Or worse. Could there be something worse? You didn't know but you were lucky. You thought until the school day reached its end.
Completely unaware of the fate which has been decided for you by three certain volleyball players, you slowly packed your bag and thought about what you were going to do after school.
"Hey, [Name]" A familiar voice called you from the classroom door.
"Oh, hey, Makki. What's up?" You turned towards your best friend who was accompanied by Matsukawa and slipped the strap of your bag over your shoulder.
"Would you mind helping us at practice today?"
You frowned. You and volleyball practice? What was up? Something was wrong here, right?
"Why? I don't have any clue of volleyball."
"We just need someone who notes down our improvement for today. And since we don't have a manager..." Hanamaki didn't finish his sentence since you perfectly knew this fact. The coaches have refused any contender (female contenders to be exactly) for the managers job since the only thing they would do was squealing because of Oikawa. And none of the male students wanted to be a manager.
"Yup. And we're starting with a new practice menu for the spring tournament" Matsukawa added.
You still weren't convinced. This was the first time in three years now that the boys asked you to help them at their practice. You scrutinized the tall males but you were faced with identically indifferent expressions which made it impossible to read them. You sighed and decided to trust your friends and not to turn their request down. Not mention that you would be able to see Iwaizumi at practice. You were sure it was worthy a look.
"Okay, okay. I'll do it. But I promise you, Makki, if something weird happens, you'll pay for it."
Hanamaki wasn't impressed at all by your threat and just made his peace-sign. "Got it."
"What weird things should happen, [Name]?" Matsukawa asked while the three of you were heading to the gym.
"Ah, nothing, Matsukawa. Nothing" you hurried up with your respond.
The squeaking sound of sneakers on the gym's floor greeted you and the two male when you arrived. Some of the players seemed to have started already with practice while Hanamaki and Matsukawa went to pick you up. You still pondered over the sudden request of helping them in the back of your mind. It wasn't probably the worst idea to stay cautious around the third-years. Who knows maybe they had already planned everything? You shook your head at your own thoughts. Developing a paranoia was never a good thing, so you followed them inside pushing every suspicious thought aside.
Hanamaki and Matsukawa greeted their teammates both with a "Wheeze" before leaving for the changing room. You looked around the gym hall seeing Oikawa and Iwaizumi standing near the bench with two of this (freaking) huge first-years. Kindaichi and Kunimi if you recalled it right.
You strolled over to them watching out for any stray balls which could come flying your way. The last thing you wanted was getting hit by a volleyball.
"Wheeze" You followed Hanamaki's and Matsukawa's example.
Oikawa turned around when he heard your voice, a beaming smile on his pretty face. Maybe a bit to excited?
"[Name]-chan! Glad to have you here!"
You gave the setter a skeptical glance. "Why are you so excited about that fact, Oikawa?"
"Why am I always suspicious?" he whined.
You sighed deciding to ignore his thirst for attention and risked a sidelong glance to Iwaizumi. The wingspiker seemed to be surprised about your presence, staring at you before he gave you a greeting nod. You smiled at him thinking again that he looked damn cute. And sexy. Nothing you would say out loud.
"Wheeze, [Name]-san" Kindaichi greeted you while Kunimi muttered something under his breath that could be count as a greeting.
"Wheeze, Kindaichi-kun, Kunimi-kun!" you responded bending your head back so that you could look them into the face.
"Stop ignoring me, [Name]-chan!" Oikawa complained with his whining voice.
"Shut up, Trashykawa, and go practice!" Iwaizumi smacked the back of his best friends head and walked straight to the court.
"Iwa-chan, you're mean!"
Oikawa didn't get a response so he turned back to you to explain you for what you were here today. It wasn't as difficult as you thought. You didn't even need to be a pro at volleyball. You just had to note down failures and successes during their personal practice of jump serves, spikes and combination attacks. Though, you got confused more than once when the started to do a combination attack and ran all over the court. At least, that was your impression of a combination attack: chaotic and confusing.
But hell, you couldn't get enough of seeing Iwaizumi spiking the ball. You would never even think about blocking his spikes. The force which were behind the hit ball was incredible. Not to mention these biceps...you instantly shook your head. Okay, stop that, [Name]. No fangirling in public, you called yourself to order. Easier said than done since the reason for your fangirling was right before your eyes.
A shot glance to the clock told you that it was late afternoon and practice almost over. Looked like you survived it without any suspicious moves on the part of Hanamaki.
The coaches seemed to have the same thought as you when you have looked up to the clock and told the team to gather. You let out a relieved sigh and stretched your arms and legs since your had been sitting on the bench for two hours straight.
The boys began to clear up the gym and you watched the first-years picking up the balls which were scattered around.
"[Name]!" Hanamaki called you and gained your attention.
"Yes?"
"Can put the net back into the storeroom?"
You sighed. "Yeah, okay. Can I go home after this?"
"Yes~ Sure" Oikawa said with a bright smile while you walked over to them to take the net.
You took the net out of Hanamaki's hands and carried it towards the storeroom. First of all, there was no light switched on and the light coming from the gym wasn't enough to show you were you had to put the volleyball net. Second, there were a lots of nets in the storeroom. So, you put your net down and looked around the room.
"And where exactly shall I put it?" you shouted back to the boys.
Iwaizumi sighed and walked over to the storeroom. "I'm coming, [Name]. Just leave it there."
"Just tell me where I've to put it" you responded still scrutinizing the room.
Iwaizumi didn't listen and stepped inside the room, unaware of Oikawa and Hanamaki who tailed after him.
The moment he was inside the storeroom with you, the door shut closed and Iwaizumi turned in an instead.
"Oi! What the heck!?" he called out for your friends outside the gym's storeroom.
"It's time for seven minutes in heaven~" you heard Oikawa's singsong voice.
"Shut up, Trashykawa and OPEN THE DOOR!" Iwaizumi yelled while a serious blush dusted his cheeks at the flirty words of his best friend.
You also stormed to the door and slammed against it but calling out for someone different.
"Makki! Don't do this to me! C'mon!" You couldn't believe it that your best friend since, yeah, ever was abusing your trust in this way. He perfectly knew that you had a crush on Iwaizumi.
"Makki!" you called him once again.
"Nope. Seven minutes, [Name]" he responded and you could picture his damn smirk too well.
"Noooo!" you whined because the situation was just too embarrassing. And you hated embarrassing situations. Why didn't you listen to your gut feeling when Hanamaki asked you to help them out at practice? You did wait for something like this to happen and still you fell into the trap.
"We want a kiss at least~" Oikawa chirped outside the room.
"What!?" you screeched, your voice noticeable a few octaves higher than usual. He couldn't be serious. You turned your head towards Iwaizumi who stood at the door obviously shocked about what his best friend said and froze in place.
When he met your gaze his blush visible deepened and he turned his head away in embarrassment. He would get Oikawa for this. For sure.
"Oi, Shittykawa, get your ass over here and open the door!" he growled still avoiding the gaze of your [e/c] eyes.
"Nope~, Iwa-chan. Seven minutes. You should thank me~" was the only answer the setter gave.
"Like hell I will!" the teased boy shouted.
But there was no reaction coming from your friends outside the storeroom. At least, they didn't make a sound and you could perfectly well imagine why. Eavesdropping bastards.
This situation was awkward. Like really, really awkward. You stared at the door, a deep frown on your face while thinking of a possibility to survive this without it getting even worse. Yeah, worse for your emotional health. This was the first time you were alone with Iwaizumi. Alone with him in a dark storeroom of the gym! Not good. You could feel your heart beating faster than usual. If it was out of excitement or embarrassment because of this situation, you couldn't tell. Probably both. The warmth which was flooding your body like crazy could fit both emotions. And you were sure that your face shone in a bright red. So much for that.
You needed to do something to distract yourself from all the thoughts and pictures about Iwaizumi which began to creep around your head and definitely not helped you to calm down. You resisted the urge to slam your head against the door and turned around. Something. Just something to distract yourself.
"Is here somewhere a light switch?" you asked suddenly and faced Iwaizumi again trying to sound as normal as possible.
"I'm not sure. A bit more left from the door, I guess. Why? Are you afraid of darkness?" Iwaizumi gave you something of a curious glance and you were not sure but it seemed like still had a light blush on his cheeks.
You would never admit it loud and certainly not in front of him but he looked too cute with a blush on his face. Your inner fangirl was running amok.
"No, that's not it. This situation is awkward and missing lights don't make it better" you answered managing to keep your voice at an indifferent level while searching your way through the dark room with your hands hold in front of you.
Where was this damn light switch? You felt a sudden obstacle and winced when you hit it and lost your balance. "Ouch!"
Iwaizumi was at your side with few steps grabbing your arm firmly to keep you from falling over.
"Are you alright?" he asked, worry laced into his voice.
"No! This is awkward. I'll get Makki for this" you whined while trying to gain back your balance and to ignore the fact that Iwaizumi was touching you.
"Ah, sorry. That's most likely Shittykawa's doing." Iwaizumi mumbled avoiding your gaze again.
"Nope. That wasn't just him alone" you said with a scowl on your face.
Iwaizumi gave you a questioning look but you ignored it since you didn't want to explain Hanamaki's presumed role in this and your undeniable feelings for the male in front of you.
"Ehm, you can let go of me, Iwaizumi" you uttered softly feeling how your cheeks heated up.
"Oh! Yeah, sorry" he let go of you, clearly embarrassed. "So, that means we have to wait these seven minutes until they'll let us out again, or what?" The wingspiker sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't believe his friends.
"Nope. Probably not. I guess, they're serious about it." you said.
"About what?"
"The kiss" you specified and although your voice sounded steady, just the thought to kiss Iwaizumi made you shiver in excitement.
Iwaizumi groaned running a hand down this face.
"Can't they just stop sticking their noses in other people's business!?"
"Huh?"
"Never mind, [Name]." He started to pace up and down, seemingly fighting with himself about what to do.
You could understand him somehow. After all he was forced by his friends to kiss a girl he just considered as a friend. At least, you thought that was his problem since you couldn't read his mind. Though, his behavior was kind of strange at the moment. Normally, he just lost his cool when Oikawa pissed him off. You tilted your had a bit to the side and crossed your arms while thinking of other scenarios. Or maybe he really had an interest in you? You instantly negated your own thought. Nope, impossible. Why now all of a sudden?
"Would you mind it if I kiss you?" Iwaizumi's tight voice broke through your train of thoughts.
"No" you answered absent-mindedly still pondering over why he could be so nervous when realization what you had said a second ago hit you like a brick.
The silence on part of Iwaizumi was evidence enough. You stared at him, completely shocked before you buried your burning face in your and screeched: "Oh my god! I'm sorry, Iwaizumi! I haven't thou - !"
"No?" Iwaizumi interrupted your apologize through repeating your answer with a calm voice.
You stopped, glancing at him through your fingers. He seemed way more relaxed than before and the calmness in his voice cooled you down a bit. Though, you didn't dare to say anything further, so you only nodded.
To your surprise, a relieved and big smile appeared on his face. "That makes it a lot easier, I guess."
You slowly dropped your hands looking at him in confusion. "What?"
"The kiss, idiot."
"Oh, yes..." you said not very intelligently.
"Except, your answer wasn't honest."
"Oh, no, that's not - I, ehm, didn't think..." you stuttered blushing like mad again remembering the recent embarrassment.
Iwaizumi smirked at you.
"Let's do this and I'll make up for it with a proper date, okay?"
"Wait, seriously?" you asked incredulous.
"Yes" he simply said with a blush on his cheeks.
You smiled at him brightly. "Okay."
Iwaizumi smiled before he leaned in closing the small gap between you and gently pressing his lips on yours. You kissed him back and wrapped your arms around his neck leaning your body against his. You ignored the fact that he was sweaty from practice and enjoyed the close contact. It was something you had dreamed of since the last half of your second year. Iwaizumi wrapped his arms around your waist pulling you closer to him. Yes, this definitely something you could get used to.
You ended the kiss due to the lack of oxygen and when you looked up to his face (which you couldn't see clearly because of the - still- missing light), you were sure that a huge, stupid grin was plastered over your face.
"I still won't thank Trashykawa for this" Iwaizumi said.
You chuckled at his words. Though, Iwaizumi wouldn't do it, you would thank Hanamaki later. After you gave him a piece of your mind about messing with other people's emotions.
