❝ did you sleep well? ❞ i just think. oihina mornings... thats it ^_^
the kitchen is always warm, lately. it could be that shouyou remembers to turn the heater on where tooru never has. it could be that shouyou took one look at tooru’s small apartment and immediately saw it as a home, where tooru hadn’t, before. to tooru, it’d always been an in between place, a roof over his head to while away the moments between practice sessions and other schedules. he’d gotten into the habit of spending as much time as possible outside to ward off the cold, but that was before shouyou. with shouyou there the place felt more like home, maybe because of the heater, but privately tooru thinks it’s more likely that shouyou’s presence in itself radiates warmth to a degree that could rival the sun.
the warmth spreads through his chest and makes its way up his throat, manifesting in an indulgent look of fondness on his face. it’s early, and tooru can’t quite muster up enough energy to care that he’s probably ruining his image for this. (what image, the makeshift shouyou in his head teases, i’ve seen your bedhead.)
“hm,” he hums, pretending to consider the question. tooru makes his way over, draping an arm over shouyou’s shoulder into a lazy hug, letting himself dissolve into weightlessness and trusting shouyou to hold him together. “i woke up better.”
when he wants it, tooru always has kaien’s full attention.
and tooru is greedy: if they’re in a room together, he always wants it. it’s quite likely, tooru gathers from the way kaien looks at him when tooru enters his space, that he occupies kaien’s thoughts more often than that. it’s entirely true that tooru looks back at kaien the same way, thinks about kaien all the time.
“you keep looking at me like that,” tooru says lowly, padding over to the couch where kaien is. he sets himself on kaien’s lap, closing the distance between them so he can lower his voice, as if letting kaien in on a secret. “i’m very susceptible to flattery, you know?”
they meet in the middle, as in: tooru tilts his head down, that familiar happiness pressing against his ribs, a delighted smile blooming on his lips. as in: tooru tilts kaien’s head upward, angling his own so their lips meet in a chaste kiss.
it helps that his lips are already pressed together from suppressing his grin, because tooru doesn’t think he’s ready for this kiss to go further yet. and anyway, it’s nice, just like this. they’re in no hurry. breaking the kiss, he settles his face against kaien’s neck, curling up just a little to fit himself into kaien but not so much that they couldn’t continue kissing if they wanted to, except that would have to wait for tooru’s face to stop burning.
reluctant to move, tooru snakes an arm around kaien, placing his hand against kaien’s back where he begins to draw idle circles. when he feels sufficiently calmed, tooru chances a glance up at kaien, committing the scene to memory. it’s a tough job, trying to collect himself enough to speak, and tooru only half manages it. “hi,” he murmurs, breath brushing against kaien’s pulse. “um. so.”
he hears tooru’s feet racing up the steps and down the hall seconds before he surges into the room, but because he’s a good boyfriend who never lets any of tooru’s bits fall flat, he astarts, zero to a hundred like it’s his calling: cue the theatrics! “ woah! ” he swirls around on his chair and is on his feet in record time. “ what, what, what is it! did the neighbor let her dogs out again? is the backyard overrun? ” he's been manifesting it.
tooru almost lets the bit drop right then, so overcome by love for his partner and boyfriend that momentarily everything falls away in the face of shouyou’s enthusiasm. he has to blink to catch himself, shaking away the deep red infatuation threatening to ruin his definitely, absolutely, carefully planned out surprise.
right. abruptly, he grabs hold of shouyou’s hands, leading him toward the staircase. “psh, way bigger than that! but you were suuper close!” they’re outside now, and tooru does, in fact, start heading over to the porch next door where hana-san, their neighbor, waits.
there’s a cardboard box beside her, and only one dog to be seen lying within it.
tooru lowers his voice as they approach. “so, remember how we haven’t seen yuki-chan for a while? well. it turns out, she’s been pregnant! i found out the other day when hana-san and i happened to meet at the market, and she said yuki-chan was due sometime soon — i didn’t expect it to actually happen today! — but then she said she’d need to put the puppies up for adoption, and, well…”
“obviously, it’ll need to stay with the mom for a few weeks, but after that, i was thinking… maybewecouldadoptone?”
❝ i had no idea the view from up here would be so breathtaking. ❞ ok imagine. timeskip iwaoi but theyre BOTH pro vball players on the same team (idc which one. you can decide<3) and they just won gold haha <- person whos always hated that hajime didnt go pro
when hajime announced that he was going overseas with tooru, tooru had thought he meant it in an oblique way, as in: i’m going overseas too, but to a different country; or, i’m going overseas with you, to study bio-engineering at the nearby university — which would have been more out of left field than what actually happened, but since that hypothetical turned out to be off base, there was no point dwelling on it.
(so maybe leaving japan felt like running away a little bit. maybe he felt a little guilty about dragging hajime through years of volleyball. not that guilty, obviously, since hajime clearly enjoyed playing, even if it wasn’t to the same degree that tooru enjoyed it. or so he thought.)
what tooru needed to process was the fact that hajime had chosen to pursue a career as a volleyball player. in a professional league. on the same team tooru had made plans to join. in argentina.
at that time, he’d felt a little like his spotlight got stolen, but hajime had never shown signs of wanting the sort of attention that tooru craved, so tooru supposed he could be generous in this case and learn to share.
“dumbass,” he could imagine hajime’s voice running commentary on his thoughts, a fond note threading through it as he says, not unkindly, “stop thinking the world revolves around you.”
when the time came to go, tooru thought they’d burst onto the scene like a display of fireworks, dazzling everyone with their skills and unbeatable teamwork. hajime, more realistically, told him that he was being stupid and they’d only just lit the match, not even the fuse.
“fireworks fizzle out and die almost immediately, anyway.” — iwaizumi hajime, oikawa tooru wrangler and best friend.
he hates to admit it, but hajime might’ve had a point. between living in a country he could barely communicate in and playing with a professional team who were leagues above him in hindsight, tooru had been woefully underprepared and immediately overwhelmed by … well, for lack of a better word — life.
still, when he boiled it down to the microcosm of the two of them, it’d taken them no time at all to settle in and figure out a routine. tooru suspects that he would’ve been worse off without hajime by his side, which was a stupid thing to doubt from the beginning since it was a foundational principle of the universe that they were better together, but he was especially thankful for his best friend in this specific phase of his life.
the thing about them is this: tooru keeps shooting for the stars, hajime keeps him grounded. they were icarus and someone icarus should’ve had around, probably, because tooru may not have wings of wax but he was prone to burnout all the same, and hajime was a rational person who had twenty years of experience dealing with tooru. the point is that however they worked, they worked.
(sometimes, he wonders if hajime would have come to argentina if not for him. and then hajime kicks his ass at practice, which leaves tooru with other things to worry about, like keeping up with his best friend who he may potentially have dragged here and was now showing him up, the ungrateful son of a lovely pair of mothers.)
but life goes on. tooru grows up. he stops begrudging hajime his moments of being right, too occupied by the list of worries that refused to stop growing. practice continued to be grueling, matches were always unpredictable and therefore stress inducing, hajime remained by his side.
(sometimes, he wonders…)
the world may not revolve around me, tooru thinks to himself, but iwa-chan, sometimes it feels like you do.
time passes. at some point and despite the lack of conscious input, tooru has a paradigm shift. he doesn’t know when he reached this particular conclusion: maybe he woke up one day with it, or maybe it struck him at training, or maybe he was scrolling through social media one day and read an inspirational quote that led him to the thought:
if hajime came here because of me, then i have to take him all the way to the top.
the worries shifts into resolve.
“as long as we’re together,” tooru remembers a younger version of himself saying, writing their names out next to each other, “we’re invincible.”
when it happens, tooru doesn’t remember the time that passed in detail, can only recall snapshots of moments, hajime by his side in every significant portrait.
“i had no idea the view from up here would be so breathtaking.” hajime admits, flushed with joy and pride and victory.
when it happens, it feels like everything else pales into insignificance. because what happens is this, in order of importance: hajime is by his side. they lift the trophy into the air, and it’s not like fireworks at all. the feeling doesn’t dissipate or fizzle out, instead solidifying into a mass of satisfaction, not unlike resolve. their eyes meet, an ace and his setter.
iwa-chan, he thinks as his mind works rapidly to process the new paradigm shift, maybe i’ve been revolving around you all along, too.
“i told you i’d bring you here,” tooru grins, filing that thought away for later. he wraps an arm around hajime, keeping him close. “and we’re not done yet. this is just lighting the match, remember?”
“ oikawa-senshu, up, up! ” she unceremoniously sprawls across the tooru-shaped lump underneath the covers, arms curling around where she estimates his torso to be. “ you, me, day trip to the beach! ”
in automatic protest, tooru begins to wriggle his limbs around, trying to throw her off until he feels the distinctive shape of arms around him- “haru-chan,” his voice emerges from beneath the covers, muffled by the layers and the weight of sakura herself, “if you wanted a hug, you could just ask~!” then, as he processes the rest of her words filtering through belatedly, “are you planning to drag me there in my blanket? i can’t get up if you don’t let me out!”
❝ i can’t tell when you’re joking and when you’re not. ❞
❝ you look ridiculous in that outfit. ❞
❝ when we show fear, it jumps at us faster than light. ❞
❝ go on, pull the trigger. ❞
❝ guess you’ll have to chalk it up to bad luck. ❞
❝ whatever happens, happens. ❞
❝ how long were you there? i didn’t hear you come in. ❞
❝ some promises are made to be broken. ❞
❝ you’ve already caused me enough trouble. ❞
❝ i’m fully aware of the danger. ❞
❝ why do you do all of this? for money? some sort of revenge? or perhaps just for fun? ❞
❝ the more you know, the shorter your life will be. ❞
❝ let’s just say my past is catching up to me. ❞
❝ go ahead and run. how far do you think you’ll get? ❞
❝ i want to get out of this life. ❞
❝ i’ll be with you. until the end. ❞
❝ you’re lucky you got away with only this scratch on your arm. ❞
❝ stick your neck out too far, and you’ll get it cut. ❞
❝ i was starting to worry about you. ❞
❝ i thought i’d say goodbye, since it’ll be the last i’ll be seeing you. ❞
❝ you know the first rule of combat? shoot them before they shoot you. ❞
❝ you’ve never told me anything about yourself. ❞
❝ hey there, having a little trouble? ❞
❝ do you have any idea what you look like? a ravenous beast. ❞
❝ this is strictly business. ❞
❝ are you pleading for your life? ❞
❝ i love the kind of woman that can kick my ass. ❞
❝ remember: a snake cannot eat a dragon. ❞
❝ you came all the way here to see me? ❞
❝ belonging is the very best thing there is. ❞
❝ there was no place for me to return to. this was the only place i could go. ❞
❝ they lead you like a lamb to slaughter. ❞
❝ if we had met earlier in life, do you think that we would have been friends? ❞
❝ i’m not a criminal. woah…that makes me sound more like a criminal, doesn’t it? ❞
❝ you know what they say. easy come, easy go. ❞
❝ no one can draw a clear line between sane and insane. you move that line as you see fit for yourself. ❞
❝ don’t try to talk anymore. we’ll have a doctor in a few minutes. ❞
❝ why do you have to go? ❞
❝ i know who you are. i’ve heard about you. ❞
❝ you should see yourself right now. ❞
❝ so, you’re finally awake. ❞
❝ either way, we were destined to end up like this. ❞
❝ that threat doesn’t work on me anymore. ❞
❝ a star just fell from the sky. ❞
❝ we should’ve never taken such a risk. ❞
❝ your heart is colder than any planet. ❞
❝ of the days that i have lived, only those i spent with you felt real. ❞
❝ what’s wrong? lost your nerve? ❞
❝ hello there, my friend, welcome to hell. ❞
❝ how long were you in there listening? ❞
❝ i have no fear of death. it just means dreaming in silence. ❞
❝ you’re kidding yourself if you think every person is like you. they’re not. ❞
❝ you told me once to forget the past, but you’re the one still tied to it. ❞
❝ before i knew it, the dream was all over ❞
❝ angels banished from heaven have no choice but to become devils. ❞
❝ having ourselves a little nap, huh? ❞
❝ time never stands still. ❞
❝ you are a part of me that i had lost. ❞
❝ you’re a good shot. ❞
❝ let’s go somewhere. just the two of us. ❞
❝ so, there is no place for me after all. ❞
❝ there is nothing in this world to believe in. ❞
❝ when this is over, i’m getting out of it. all of it. ❞
❝ shit. this whole thing gives me a headache. ❞
❝ the same blood runs through both of us. ❞
❝ if there’s anyone who needs pity here, it’s you. ❞
❝ why are you still alive? ❞
❝ so, how about it? you’ll have a little drink, won’t you? ❞
❝ once you let your teeth in something, you never let go of it. ❞
❝ i’m not in a great mood right now, all right? ❞
❝ what, you think you’re too good to talk to me? ❞
❝ everything’s broken around this place. ❞
❝ didn’t your grandmother ever tell you to finish what you start? ❞
❝ i’ll meet you at the end of this world. ❞
❝ you were always waiting for me. and that’s all i needed. you. ❞
❝ what are you spacing out about? ❞
❝ what are you going to do? throw away your life like it was nothing? ❞
❝ i’m watching a dream i’ll never wake up from. ❞
❝ i’m not the type to be led around. ❞
❝ it’s so like you to worry about things. ❞
❝ come on out. you can’t run anymore. ❞
❝ don’t give me that art of war crap. ❞
❝ you’re a strange one, aren’t you? ❞
❝ this could be a trap. ❞
❝ for some reason, i didn’t feel sad. it just didn’t seem real. ❞
❝ if i tell you, i’d have to kill you. ❞
❝ now, don’t get hotheaded. ❞
❝ there’s something you’re looking for, isn’t there? something you need to find? ❞
❝ if you wanna know something, let me see some cash. ❞
❝ hey, i said i was sorry. ❞
❝ i don’t know who you are and i don’t really give a damn. ❞
❝ if you want to receive, you must first give. ❞
❝ i had a little trouble, but it’s nothing i can’t handle. ❞
❝ tell me what you’re doing here. ❞
❝ we either deceive or are deceived. we flourish or perish. ❞
❝ you don’t give up, do you? ❞
❝ if you want to survive, you’ll have to betray me at times. ❞
❝ i had no idea the view from up here would be so breathtaking. ❞
❝ damn…all that work and no reward. ❞
❝ don’t come back. there won’t be a place for you. ❞
❝ i haven’t committed any crimes. well…at least not bad ones. ❞
❝ doing things like this won’t bring you any good. ❞
❝ what happened to your generosity? ❞
❝ i’ve never had anything good happen to me when i trusted others. ❞
❝ little by little, i felt something inside of me go numb. ❞
❝ thank god i can finally relax. take a little breather. ❞
❝ come on, hang in there, you hear me? ❞
❝ do not fear death. death is always at our side. ❞
❝ you’re in a good mood today. ❞
❝ i don’t know why i’m telling you all this. i feel like i’m in a confession booth. ❞
❝ you’ve never listened to anyone in your whole life. ❞
❝ we’re supposed to be a team here, you know. ❞
❝ you’re avoiding the subject and you know it. what are you trying to hide from me? ❞
❝ to our new alliance, and perhaps even friendship. ❞
❝ when something goes wrong, someone must take responsibility. ❞
❝ what’s your problem? you wanna fight? ❞
❝ don’t try anything. ❞
❝ you’ve got a bit of mercy in you, haven’t you? ❞
❝ i want to be strong like you. ❞
❝ what’s all this? isn’t this a little risky? ❞
❝ it’s no use playing innocent. ❞
❝ you have something beautiful deep inside you. it’s hard for some people to tell, but it’s there. ❞
❝ you’re trembling. ❞
❝ how do you know so much about me? ❞
❝ i’m okay. it takes more than to kill me. ❞
❝ ‘survival of the fittest’ is the law of nature. ❞
❝ i want to live my own life, make my own decisions…even if they are terrible mistakes. ❞
❝ hey, thanks a lot for the warm welcome. ❞
❝ what makes you think you can do whatever the hell you like? ❞
❝ you’re just walking trouble, so stay out of it. ❞
❝ i said i don’t feel like doing this. ❞
❝ you’re just afraid they’ll abandon you, so you abandon them. ❞
❝ and you trust me just like that? ❞
❝ i never did understand you, right to the very end. ❞
❝ unfortunately, we quickly forget the lessons we learn, and then we have to learn them all over again. ❞
❝ you’ll survive this. be strong. ❞
❝ how many lies are you going to tell me before you’re done? ❞
❝ remember: i will always be cheering you on. ❞
❝ what do you get by running away? ❞
❝ do people ever tell you that you’re the silent type? ❞
❝ i get a strange feeling when i look in your eyes. ❞
❝ this time, i hope you have sweet dreams. ❞
❝ will you rescue me if someone goes wrong? ❞
❝ do you want to know a secret about my past? ❞
❝ even if you play by the rules, nothing gets solved. ❞
❝ you’re gonna carry that weight. ❞
❝ so, you were going to betray me? ❞
❝ that arrogance of yours will be your ruin. ❞
❝ you’re the only one i can turn to for help right now. ❞
❝ i’m not the delicate cautious type. ❞
❝ i…can’t come with you. ❞
❝ my love for you burns strong. ❞
❝ they say ghosts appear in places where they have regrets. ❞
❝ in this world, people must cherish whatever ties they have. ❞
❝ you’re the one person i could never forgive. ❞
❝ serves you right. this is poetic justice. ❞
❝ i’ve got no place to stay. ❞
❝ we’ll leave here and get out of this. ❞
❝ what makes you think that you know anything about me? ❞
❝ i’m telling you this for your own good. if you’re smart, you’ll stay out of it. ❞
❝ of course, i can see now how stupid i was. ❞
❝ did you sleep well? ❞
❝ keep dreaming. it’s never going to happen. ❞
❝ sometimes it’s good not to ask ‘what’s in it for me?’ ❞
❝ does it look like i’m joking around? ❞
❝ all is fair in love and war. ❞
❝ i’m just glad you’re safe. ❞
❝ maybe this is the one i won’t come back from. ❞
❝ it’s no use. there’s nothing we can do. ❞
❝ what a smile. so sad…so beautiful. ❞
❝ i know why you’re here. ❞
❝ well, it looks like all my good karma is finally paying off. ❞
❝ could you be a little quieter, please? ❞
❝ if we do not show fear, it casts its eye upon us gently and then guides us into infinity. ❞
❝ i’ll take care of this. you can go back. ❞
❝ this is the real world. this is no place for pretty ideals. ❞
❝ i’m just watching a bad dream i never wake up from. ❞
❝ for once, just stick to the plan. ❞
❝ this is the first time i agree with you on something. ❞
❝ you haven’t changed, huh? ❞
❝ maybe…or maybe that’s just part of the legend. ❞
❝ if i get caught, nothing can save me. nothing. ❞
for all he tries to cover up insecurity with bravado, tooru would never admit to being perfect. when he looks back, memories of those days of despair are easily evoked even now — the phases of questioning if this was truly what he was meant for, if this was the limit of his reach — and like a dear friend, he holds those struggles close.
if he remembers how he felt then, and how far he’s come, nothing seems insurmountable in comparison.
tooru’s locking the door behind him when shouyou rises to meet him at the entryway, as has become ritual for them, and tooru, ever the analyst, narrows his focus instantly to the unmistakable deviation from their norm, cataloguing the uncharacteristic lethargy dragging shouyou down. he knows how it feels, he thinks, and plants his feet, letting gravity ground him so he can steady shouyou in turn.
“i’m home,” he agrees with a smile. his arms rise to wrap around his boyfriend, rubbing reassuring circles into shouyou’s back as tooru abandons any notion of even taking his shoes off for the moment. now that he’s here, he’s in no hurry to be anywhere else.
he doesn’t ask, either; there’ll be time to talk about it later. for now, tooru lets his worries be: he understands, all too well, that some feelings are too amorphous to be crammed into the shapes of words.
“i’ve got you,” tooru hums, “i’m here as long as you need me.”
in vivid contrast to tooru’s inner torment, shoyo, on the other hand, is having a great time. it’s the company, of course (it's generally super hard for him to keep a straight face after extended exposure to tooru), but it’s also in part the fact that tooru’s doing the whole over-the-top first date chivalry thing, reminiscent of… well, their first date, obviously, but also more or less every single date that's transpired since.
the easy grin he’s been sporting for the past hour teeters into breathy laughter as his fingers cover the console tooru just abdicated. “wow! indirect hand-holding! you flirt!” he curls his torso, face bending to level with the crane claw, squinting his eyes at the plushie options stuffed along the sides of the glass. “still wanna go for that one? doesn’t it kinda look like someone we know?”
shouyou shines like the sun. no matter how much exposure tooru has, every time he thinks, ‘surely i’m used to it by now, we’ve been dating for [insert amount of time since The Confession],’ he’s proven wrong the moment shouyou flashes that blinding grin at him. everything else fades away in the face of that.
and not that he’s timing it, but he does boast a quicker recovery time now. if there’s one thing tooru’s learned is consistent in his life, it’s that practice will always get you somewhere. he blinks away the glare, schooling his face into a thoughtful pout. “shouyou… i don’t want to think about how many other people have touched that console.”
“‘sides, you know i’d be more direct than that~ if i really wanted to flirt,” tooru hums, posing suggestively against the machine adjacent to the one shouyou had taken over, and with a growing grin, says, “it’d be more like this. hey, handsome, come here often?”
“hey, hey, there’s a familiar face! when i heard rumors about a japanese artist coming to display their works, i was thinking ‘oh, but what are the odds it’s that one artist you know; it’s probably su~uper low’, but then it was! kitagawa, right? i remember you coming up to ask me to pose for a project waay back in high school… haha, you were so cute back then! oh, hey, d’you have someone to show you ‘round the city? i’m not big into art myself, but i do at least know where the artsy areas are~ ‘sides, it’ll be easier if there’s someone to translate, yeah?”
there’s no denying that he’s nervous. he hasn’t seen some of these people in ten years or so, and some of them tooru isn’t sure he’s met in an official capacity ever. but shouyou had sent him the invite, and tooru could acknowledge, if only to himself, that it didn’t take much more beyond that fact to convince him to agree.
taking a moment to fortify himself, tooru glances at his phone to cross check the details shouyou sent him against his location to make sure he was at the right place. once he was sure they were scheduled to meet at the restaurant on the corner, he looks away briefly to put his phone away. mid-motion, something catches his eye and forces him into a comical double take. he’s expecting some familiar faces, sure, but not this one. “ehh?? no, whoa, what’re you doing here?! weren’t you working in london?!”
“ngh… mnn…” there’s a look of intense focus on his face, concentration unwavering as he carefully shifts the gear in his hand forward while keeping his eyes on the prize. with all his experience on the court, tooru’s never been the type to experience performance anxiety, but in this unique instance he thinks he might understand how it feels, even if he’s performing only for an audience of one. palpitations, check. sweat buildup, check—
his grip on the console slips and destroys his hard earned progress in one fell swoop. the claw makes a sad little click as it retracts, emptyhanded. “agh, i give up!! hey, shouyou, help me out here!”
here’s a traditional starter call to start things off! hit that like button if you think he’s cute and/or if you’d like a starter! no one will know which♥
❛❛ Ruru---- ❜❜ There's her seething rage, the demon vice commander of the kendo club ! Koto's cheeks puff out as she looks up at him, angrily. ❛❛ Shrink a little ! ❜❜ She can't touch his hair like this ! [ for u wenny benny kith ]
he’s balancing on his tiptoes out of spite. “ehhh? what’s wrong, kotocchi? aw, you can’t reach? don’t worry, i’m kind and considerate! just say the word, and i’ll consider helping you up~”
areudirty
jbbartram-illu
tangentwithtanner
germansingergirl
prguitarman
snowghoul
