sae

-Jonathan has always been shown as a kinda greasy, wash and wear kind of guy, but I believe that it started from hearing his parents fight and argue constantly, keeping him up at night and too tired to care in the morning

-I feel like there was some sort of secret beef between him and Steve that no one talks about (from before the whole thing with Nancy)

-super self-conscious if his eye bags and hair

-I know Joyce probably sticks a bowl on his and Will’s heads and cuts when their hair gets too long, but Jonathan wants to try a new style

-Doesn’t really like wearing a ton of colorful patterns and prints because he likes to be concealed and looked over rather than an attention grabber

-However, is not opposed to anyone else wearing those types of clothes, he thinks they look great on other people, just not him

-Lonnie came to visit him when he was a teen (before Will went missing) and refused to look at his face

-Lonnie then kinda shoved him around and Jonathan was determined to be able to fight back if the time came

-This also feeds into the scene when Lonnie was pushed off and mentioned how he had gotten stronger

-As well as how he nearly beat Steve to a pulp

-Uses weed to calm his nerves cos I know this boy has anxiety

-When he started smoking with Argyle, I just know he told him about everything that happened in Hawkins and Argyle just nodded along, thinking it was just the pot talking

-Definitely had a sit-down with Steve and asked some stuff about Nancy

-I wholeheartedly believe he accidentally stalked some random person one time and they called the cops

-Mixtapes are his love language, not gifts, but mixtapes

-Totally confused when he found out a lot of words have different meanings and would be even more confused when people got upset at him for not understanding

-A prime example is someone saying they’re “fine” then Jonathan thinking they were really just fine

-Also confused by the fact that different flowers mean different things

-No one ever calls him “Jonny”

-A rare few call him “Jon”

-had asked so many people to “be his muse” and everyone has turned him down

-Sad boy with a sad life

I finally watched ST after years of friends begging me

‘Sickening’

That was the only word that came to my mind when seeing Oikawa Tooru’s fake smile. It charmed every girl he flashed it to, but seeing it from afar, it was sickly. 

Of course, only I and a select few others can recognize it. One of the perks of being quote-on-quote, “charming.” 

He’s good at it, I’ll give him that. I was fooled when I first talked to him as well. But you notice these things when you can do them yourself. I’m not saying that I would use my own charm in an evil way, but when push comes to shove, you need to fake it till you make it. It comes in handy when you’re forced to chat with people you don’t want to, or when you need to call in a favor. It is also really easy to make friends and allies. 

The only downfall is that the charm doesn’t work on those who realize you have it. Namely, those who also have that kind of charm. Most of the time. 

Apparently not this time. 

I’m a transfer student from the U.S.A., the greatest place on earth. So, being the new kid paired with my natural charm, I also am the talk of the school. I have been for the past few weeks since I moved here. 

Aoba Johsai is one of the best schools in the precinct. Although I’d much rather be back home in The States and be homeschooled. Anyways, back to what I was saying before: charm is usually seen through by those who possess it. But not this time. 

Oikawa Tooru is my very own PITA, as my dad says. Pain. In. The. Ass. 

“Yoo-hoo!” The tall brunette waves from across the hall. 

I shutter before trying to pretend I neither saw nor heard him. 

Other girls swoon over the boy, and, to be fair, I might have swooned once or twice. Otherwise, he is insanely obnoxious and childish. 

For context, let’s start from the beginning: 

It was the Friday of my first week at school in Japan. I hardly knew any Japanese and I was still trying to get used to everyone flocking me 24/7. 

I was in Oikawa’s homeroom. Like him, I was smart, but I didn’t know Japanese that well. How did I know him? I keep up with volleyball, especially for the school I was planning to transfer to. ‘The Great King’ is what they called him. 

I was walking home, which was a good way away, but there was also a convenience store on the way there. How convenient. 

I stopped there for a drink most of the time, to and from school. 

And just like every day before, I stopped to get a drink. 

As I was walking out of the shop, I heard the familiar airy voice of Oikawa Tooru. He was walking into the store with some of his fangirls. 

I slipped past the small group and made my way back to my house. 

As I walked, I messaged back some friends in the States. When I turned the corner, I saw a young boy, no more than 10 years old, standing on the sidewalk, hands fisted in his shorts’ pockets, kicking loose rocks into the street, muttering. 

After a week of walking back and forth between my house and school, I’d never seen this kid before. Or, any kid, really. 

In the best Japanese I could muster, I asked the boy if he was lost. 

He then proceeded to explain to me in a deadpan voice that his uncle had forgotten to pick him up at the train station today, and so he got bored and wandered off. 

He then continued on to say that my uniform looked familiar. To which I explained that I attended Aoba Johsai. His eyes lit up as he told me that is where his uncle goes to school as well. 

This piqued my interest and I asked him who his uncle was. 

“Oikawa Tooru.” 

Ugh. 

I went on to tell him that I had just seen his uncle at a convenience store a few blocks from where we were standing, but he was probably long gone by now. 

The boy sighed and asked me if I could help him find his grandmother’s house. To which I agreed and quickly messaged my parents, telling them I would be home later than expected. 

I have always had a soft spot for little kids. Most people my age don’t with the whole “yeet the child” “kick the baby” and so on. So I couldn’t help but walk the kid to the address written on a piece of paper. 

It was about 30 minutes after I had seen Oikawa walk into the store with the girls surrounding him. But when he opened the front door to his nephew, his smug look dropped into one of utter horror as he realized he had forgotten about him. 

He sputtered and stuttered out nonsense as the boy rolled his eyes and walked inside. Before the boy’s uncle could shut the door, he poked his head out and thanked me, before finally asking my name. 

I politely answered and asked him the same question back. 

“Takeru.” 

“Well,” I smiled, “It was a pleasure working with ya.” 

He smiled back and nodded, thanking me once more. 

Just as the boy was trying to close the door around his teen uncle, the tall brunette finally snapped back into reality. 

“Ah- thank you so much!” He was cut off by his nephew slamming the door. 

The rest was history. He has thanked me profusely for the next weeks and is continuing to do so. Every day, he has asked me to watch his practice, walk with him before and after school, or join him for lunch. 

I was polite and tried to be nice and attend one or two practices, or joined for lunch a few times. But after that, it became overbearing. It may be because I was one of the very few people that could see through his facade. That’s what Iwaizumi said, anyway. He claims that we are the same in that way. 

On paper, this whole situation looks like Oikawa is the helplessly in love romantic, while I am the love interest. 

But, to me, he’s just a pain in my ass. 

… 

I had gotten away from the tall setter and his raving fans by sneaking into my homeroom and eating my lunch there. I pulled out some of my homework, and decided to look over it and what I could finish the fastest. After careful consideration, I settled on an English writing assignment. 

I pulled out some sheets of lined paper, pens, and my AirPods. I put on some random playlist and was jamming out to that while I had a working lunch. 

So in tune with what I was doing, I didn’t notice the door to the classroom open and shut, or even the person walk over to me and pull up a chair until they plopped down in front of me. I jumped slightly, looking up at the person who startled me. 

The same brunette boy that has followed me around like a lost puppy for the past weeks. 

‘Can I ever catch a break from this guy?’ 

The short answer is no. 

“Do you need something?” I question plainly. 

“Come to my practice game after school.” He answers in the same manner, mocking me. 

I sigh before speaking again, “I’ll see if I can.” 

He stares down at my paper, his finger tracing over the English lettering. 

“I want you to be there.” He comments, not looking up. 

I smile while breathing out a soft laugh, “Why are you so adamant about me going to your practices?” 

Finally looking up from my paper, he answers, “I’m not sure,” He shrugs, “You’re like Iwa.”

“Oh?” I take a bite of my lunch before grabbing my pen and picking up where I left off on my assignment. 

“Yeah,” He takes out his lunch as he talks, “He is the only person who takes me seriously, whether I am faking it or not.” 

“Yep,” I smile while dotting the period on the page, “I’m not like other girls.” I joke. 

He lets out a laugh, much different from the ones he uses around his teammates and fangirls. 

After our laughter dies out, we sit in silence for a while. Comfortable silence. 

We spent the rest of our lunch break together chatting and joking. It was like a breath of fresh air. 

Once the break came to an end, our classmates spilled into the room and he went back to his assigned desk. 

After school, I went to his practice game. It was against some school called Karasuno. 

When they arrived I was chatting with Iwaizumi, both of us waiting for Oikawa to arrive. The team entered the gym and their coach, manager, and captain walked up to Iwa and me. They greeted us and their manager, Kiyoko was her name I think, was so intrigued that Aoba Johsai had a female manager too. 

I quickly explained that I wasn’t a manager, but instead a friend of some of the players. She only nodded and excused herself from the conversation. 

‘Rude…’

As the match started, I took a seat in the bleachers, close to the front so that I could see the game better. I wasn’t a pro volleyball player, but I was pretty decent when playing with my friends back in the States. So I know my way around a match. 

It was already toward the end of the second set and Oikawa still wasn’t there. I looked over at Iwaizumi who was standing on the side of the court and shot him a questioning look. He shrugged and went back to staring down at the other team. As the conspiring of the other team proceeding got more obvious, a dramatic entrance by the one and only Oikawa Tooru was made. 

He greeted his coach and his team while they seethed at him through their teeth for being late. He went off to warm up and analyzed the opposing team. When he joined in the third set, it was a close call between the teams, but Karasuno took the win in the end. 

I took to the court and interrogated Oikawa as to why he invited me to a practice game he was not even playing for the most part. He laughed and shrugged off the questions, leaving me alone on the court while he went to change quickly. 

About 15 minutes later, he came back in normal clothing and asked me to join him for a bite to eat. I hesitantly agreed and followed him to the familiar convenience store. 

We both grab some snacks and he leads me to a nearby park. He explained why he wasn’t there, then the main reason I was invited was to be sure that I would be around to go out with him after the match. To which I argued was a ‘stupid idea.’ 

We chatted for a while longer before he asked about us hanging out after school on specific days, whether it be to just hang out or to study together. I reluctantly agreed and it was settled. 

For the next month, we met every Wednesday and Saturday to hang out and study. Somedays Iwaizumi would join us, sometimes he wouldn’t. The two of us become closer with every passing day, to the point where my parents would ask if we were dating yet. 

It came increasingly close to summer break in Japan, which was strange for me since I was so used to the American school system. As the end of July neared, there were a few projects that were due after the six weeks when we were on break. 

I was sitting outside with some of my friends that I had made throughout the few months I was in school. We were making plans for hanging out while we were on break, but it was rudely interrupted by the ‘Great King.’ 

“What’s up?” I asked while swinging my head back to face him. 

“We need to hang out soon.” He deadpanned. Which was odd considering he didn’t normally do that when he was around other people. 

“Okay…?” I answered, unsure of his somewhat serious tone, “When?” 

“Next week? Saturday?” He was very curt and stiff in his replies. 

“Umm,” I hummed, checking the calendar on my phone, “Yeah, sure.” 

He let out a breath he had been holding and smiled at me before throwing up a peace sign as he left, his usual mannerisms returning. 

As quickly as the interaction started, it was over. The week had zoomed past. We had settled on Saturday at noon, he would pick me up and he had some ‘surprise plan’ that he refused to tell me about. 

If you hadn’t guessed it before, he planned out a whole date to confess to me. We went to an arcade and he won me my favorite stuffed animal. He had also bought me my favorite drink and treated me to the whole day. 

At the very end, he had dragged me to a particular bench that was very important to the history of our friendship. It was where we first officially met and he thanked me for helping Takeru. It was where he brought me after the practice match, it was also where we would sit when we would hang out. 

He excitedly sat me down on the bench and turned to me, hands folded in his lap, antsy energy radiating off of him. He stared at me for a few minutes before I finally asked him what he was doing. 

“I love you.” He blurted out. 

My face flushed red as well as his. We both had a shocked expression on our faces before he regained his composure and continued. 

“I want you to be my girlfriend.” 

I sat across from him, sputtering before I could get any words out. 

“I- uh…” I took a deep breath and finally spit out the words that I had been dreaming to say for weeks, “I love you, Tooru!” 

It was a little bit louder than I had expected, but he cupped my face with his hands and let out an airy laugh. 

“I’m so happy!” He smiled, “Now I get to show you off to everyone I see!” 

I giggled at his words, not taking him completely seriously until a stranger walked by and he turned to the unsuspecting man and said, “This is my girlfriend.” 

The man was confused and stunned for a second before finally replying, “Congratulations.” 

Tooru smiled and looked back at my embarrassed face. 

“You’re a pain in the ass,” I muttered under my breath, looking down. 

He pouted before I looked back at him, “But now you’re my pain in the ass.” 

I kissed the inside of his palm. Now it was his turn to turn red in embarrassment. I chuckled at his reaction and hugged him. 

“I really do love you, Tooru.” 

He hugged back tighter.