#oikyou

Oikawa took a deep breath, clearly gearing up for another round regardless of the location and audience, and Tobio huffed.  Then he took a page out of Hajime’s book - and hoped in the back of his mind that he’d live to share the experience with Hajime later - and grabbed Oikawa’s bicep and practically dragged him across the gym despite his spluttering protests.  Tobio was lucky that Oikawa was too shocked to really fight back or he probably would have gotten decked right across the jaw for that move.

“Shouting at each other across the room doesn’t count as having a proper conversation about your feelings,” Tendou said.  He opened his mouth when he realized that Oikawa and Kyoutani had no intention of saying anything only to snap it shut when the kids started filing in through the door.  His fingers finally clamped down on Kyoutani’s elbow.  “Besides,” he growled when Kyoutani tried to jerk away.  “Wouldn’t you rather all of this be private, anyway?”

Kyoutani ran his hand down his face and lightly shook his arm until Tendou let go.

“I’m taking a raincheck.  Tell the kids I’ll be back next time.”

Tobio counted to ten after the door shut behind Kyoutani before he finally let go of Oikawa’s bicep.  And that was only so he could push him towards the door and tell him to just talk to Kyoutani.

“He’s really not as difficult as you like to pretend he is,” Tendou said wisely.  “And neither are you.”

“We’ll take care of the kids today.  Go,” Tobio added.

He knew they would be okay when Oikawa was too focused on following Kyoutani to even tease Tobio about being all grown up and responsible.

—

Kentarou swiped angrily at his face.  He hated when he got emotional enough to start crying.  He hated that he had all these dumb feelings fluttering around in his chest because of Oikawa.  It was like there were angry moths slamming against the fragile glass of his ribs and they were ready to shatter him and burst into the fresh air.  He hated that Oikawa fucking Tooru made him all mushy and emotional.  Why did he have to fall for someone who flirted like it was a requirement to live and still treated Kentarou like he was some wayward child?  He was twenty-five for fuck’s sake and had been a full-time paramedic for the last five years.  But Oikawa still acted like Kentarou was that dumb, angry teammate from high school.

He tapped his foot impatiently against the stoplight, willing the crosswalk light to light up so he could just get home and pretend today never happened.  Maybe Yahaba was right and it was time to stop pining over Oikawa.  He had only spent the better part of the last decade or so on it so it shouldn’t take him too long to stop and get over it, right?

The thought of giving up on Oikawa was like a black hole opening up in his gut and it hurt so sharply that he pressed his hand to his stomach for a moment, sure he was going to pull it away to find a gaping hole there.  But his fingers met the fabric of his tank top and it was now that he realized he had forgotten his jacket.  He shivered, glad when he glanced up and saw the light had changed.  

One step into the street and he reeled backwards, stumbling and cursing softly as he collided with a body behind him.  He spun and grabbed them around the waist to stop them from hitting the ground - even though they were the one to yank him backwards for no good reason - and then nearly dropped them when he recognized Oikawa’s wide brown eyes staring up at him.  Oikawa’s fingers dug into his arms and Kentarou watched in fascination as Oikawa licked his lips and swallowed nervously as they righted themselves.

“About earlier,” Oikawa started, fingers flexing against Kentarou’s arms like he was assuring himself Kentarou was really there, “it was a dick thing to say and I should probably apologize for it.”

“It was,” Kentarou agreed when Oikawa seemed to hesitate.  “But I know you well enough to know an apology would be, uh, less than sincere considering I was being a dick right back to you and probably deserved it.”

Oikawa beamed up at him.  It made Kentarou’s stomach clench with nerves and he still hated that Oikawa gave him so many emotions.  It was hard enough to keep his own totally expected sets of emotions under control.  But to have to deal with all these wriggly little warm clenchy fuzzy feelings that Oikawa always left him with out of the blue?  Well even a decade hadn’t helped him control those things any.  Oikawa was still smiling at him and Kentarou could feel his lips twitching to return that smile each time Oikawa’s fingers twitched against his arms.

And okay yeah maybe he should listen to Yahaba and just give this up already.  Just walk away and wallow in misery a bit and get over it.

But maybe.  Just maybe he should listen to Watari and give in.  Try and show Oikawa that while he was that guy from high school he was so much more now.  He might still have the same feelings but he wasn’t some naive first year who barely understood what they meant.

He was twenty-five and in love with Oikawa Tooru.  And for the first time since, well, ever he was damn well going to do something about it.

“Can I take you out tonight?”  The words nearly got caught in his throat and once they broke through he kind of wanted to pull them right back because it was real now.  It was out there and Oikawa could do whatever he wanted with it.  Could be as cruel and scathing as he chose to be.

“Like a date?”  

Maybe he would be lucky.  Maybe there were feelings inside Oikawa that Kentarou was the cause of.  Maybe Oikawa had black holes and fluttering moths inside him that had Kentarou’s name on them.

“Like a date.”

He expected Oikawa’s smile to ramp up the wattage even more but it slid down into something softer and dimmer but all the more brilliant because of that.  Because it was something genuine and kind and when he managed to make himself look up into Oikawa’s eyes they were full of all the kinds of things Kentarou had always wanted from him and had never been able to convince himself to ask for.

“I would love to go out on a date with you.  I was starting to think you’d never ask.”

Kentarou laughed and rolled his eyes.  “And it never occurred to you to ask me yourself.”

Oikawa laughed with him and finally slid his hands down Kentarou’s arms so he could tangle their fingers together.  He studied their hands and shrugged.

“I knew you’d never really believe how much I liked you if I tried to tell you.”  Kentarou wanted to protest but he knew Oikawa was right.  Had he simply came up and told Kentarou he liked him and wanted to go out with him it would have been a dream come true, and one that there was no way he’d trust completely.  “So I decided the best thing to do was wait for you.”

“I’m glad you waited.”