iwaoiweek2026 | day 6: unrequited rivalry, los angeles olympic village, "you call that flirting?"
setting is his favorite thing in the entire world. being a setter, in fact, is oikawa's greatest pride. he loves the strategy behind every play, the control that extends even to his opponents, the immense power he holds the moment his hands touch the ball before passing it on to his teammates.
oikawa also really, really loves serving, when there are no teammates or opponents to think about, when it's just him and the other side of the court, where he can unleash all his strength without worrying about who the ball is heading toward or which play would work best.
and the best part? the look on his opponent's faces whenever he lands a service ace right in front of them. he lives for that.
especially the look on one particular player's face.
the first time they met was ten years ago, during oikawa's very first vnl as a member of argentina's national team, in argentina's match against japan. oikawa had been really, really nervous watching his two worlds collide, one where he'd grown up and one that had made him grow.
for the first time, he was facing ushiwaka and tobio-chan, the two whose backs oikawa had never managed to reach. at least, until then, because that chapter finally found its ending with the whistle closing out the fifth set,
argentina taking the win, and the two of them walking up to congratulate him with those constipated expressions of theirs. and instead of holding onto any resentment, oikawa had simply smiled and tossed out with a "good game, hope you're ready to lose to us again at the next vnl."
then, when tooru rewatched the match later that night in his hotel room, when he sat through the highlights, all he saw was what he'd been feeling the entire damn game: that iwaizumi hajime, japan's wing spiker, had been a complete pain in the ass.
most of those ridiculously powerful serves aimed straight at oikawa, his receives so solid and clean that he'd even dug two of oikawa's hardest serves, his blocks so firm despite his height that he'd actually managed to get under oikawa's skin more than once by shutting down one of his best plays.
even the way he'd pull off emergency sets that somehow turned into dangerous attacks, or save balls that should've been impossible to save, never hesitating to use his feet or launch himself over the front-row seats if he had to.
all of it made him an incredible player, an indispensable one. one oikawa became completely hyperfixated on.
tooru dug up everything he could about iwaizumi hajime's style of play. every bit of information, every interview, every national team match, every game with his team, the red falcons. and by the time they met again, oikawa tooru knew iwaizumi hajime well enough that reading him came naturally.
and during the next game, iwaizumi seemed to notice and he answered with a little more aggression, more improvisation, more pressure.
argentina won again after an incredibly close match, and when both teams lined up to shake hands afterward, iwaizumi held onto oikawa's hand just a second longer, tightening his grip and catching the setter off guard.
"next time" he said, his deep voice sending a shiver across tooru's skin, those jade eyes glinting with something dangerously close to hunger "i'm gonna kick your ass."
tooru grinned, tugging on iwaizumi's arm to pull him just a little closer across the net. "you call that flirting, iwa-chan?"
hajime rolled his eyes, a smile playing on his lips as he let their hands linger together for a little while longer before finally letting go and rejoining his teammates.
their rivalry kept growing, at least, from oikawa, who couldn't find any other label for his increasingly desperate attempts to annihilate iwaizumi on the court, attempts that, somewhere along the way, spilled over into their chats.
actually, during one interview, oikawa referred to iwa-chan as "my grumpy rival" and the very morning it was published, iwaizumi sent him the link and texted, teasing, "is that what we are?" and oikawa, without missing a beat, replied "it's not you, it's me."
year after year, though, their rivalry began to blur into something else. off the court, hajime kept feeding oikawa's drive, pushing him further and further with quiet control, making possible the things oikawa had once dismissed as doubts.
even as tooru answered with that same hunger, constantly urging iwaizumi to push him harder, to demand more of him, to let him learn from him too, to take every uncertainty, make it real and squeeze every last drop out of it.
on the court, through oikawa's service aces that looked more like missiles, landing mere millimeters from the line iwaizumi was defending, hajime turning toward him with that feral grin from across the net while tooru answered with a blown kiss and a smug wink.
through tooru's plays, like the one where he fooled even the most impenetrable block, pulling them exactly where he wanted, sticking his tongue out with a teasing grin when iwa finally realized what he'd done but it was already too late, and the point belonged to argentina.
through the blocks, when iwa moved in perfect sync with his teammates, yet tooru knew him so, so well by then, that he could spot even the tiniest tell whenever hajime was acting as a decoy. the slight way his brow relaxed, his arms didn't swing back with their usual force before a jump.
and now, at another olympics, this time in los angeles, with just over an hour left before another argentina versus japan match, the former chasing revenge after the beating japan handed them in the last vnl, oikawa sits alone on a quiet staircase, adjusting his knee pad.
"ready to lose?"
tooru smiles as he adjusts the velcro, not even needing to look up at the familiar deep voice. iwa-chan, will always be iwa-chan.
"ready to make you lose" he corrects with a smile, bending his knee twice to make sure the pad sits comfortably before standing up.
"you said that at the last vnl."
"i was talking about the olympics, actually. i'm a visionary, i predict the future, you know" he shoots back, pretending not to notice the way his heart tickles against his ribs when hajime lets out a laugh.
"and what do you see besides my victory?" he continues, still needling him, crossing those thick arms over his broad chest as his eyes sparkle with amusement.
tooru grins right back, stepping closer with his hands clasped behind him.
maybe it's the high of making the semifinals or the way they've wanted each other since minute zero, those feelings slowly slipping through the cracks, drop by drop, or maybe it's the years of phone calls, messages, and conversations with their hearts laid bare.
maybe it's all of those things and more that finally give tooru the courage to say, with his voice steady even as warmth spreads across his cheeks: "you with me, everywhere."
and maybe it's all of those same things that make hajime's eyes widen in genuine surprise, his ears flushing red as he processes tooru's words, the weight carried by every single one of them.
and there are no maybes anymore, only certainty as oikawa takes advantage of his surprise, gripping the front of hajime's shirt and gently tugging him closer until there's barely a breath between them.
and when hajime reads the unspoken words in tooru's wide, beautiful eyes (that he can still pull away if he doesn't want this, that they can still turn back if that's what he wants), certainty is all that's left as he cups the back of tooru's neck with one steady hand and closes the distance.
their first kiss is more than a service ace, more than a semifinal victory, more than the vnl, more than the olympics, more than the hunger they've always carried for the sport, more than the entire universe.
...
consider this me pushing the pro volleyball player iwaizumi hajime agenda 🙂↕️
u can find me on my ao3, bluesky and this is my carrd and strawpage 🍉
