'Grand King'

“You must be a good player to get a scholarship. Maybe I’ll come and watch a game or two?” It would be nice to stay connected to volleyball in some significant way, even if it was through the eyes of one spectator in a crowd of many. The thought of abandoning the sport altogether left an odd pang in his heart too.

Really, the more he learned the more curious he became. Oikawa seemed like the type of person that Ennoshita was not – naturally engaging, charming, complex, he mused with increasing conviction. Someone who could easily belong in the center of everyone’s attention all while vying for more. Ennoshita never really tried to be more than he was and had rather settled to be the best as he was. Sometumes was a struggle to fend off the insecurities he held within himself; all things covered by an easy self-assurance that was honestly, confusingly, just as real those sentiments of not being enough. Even now, more reassured than before that their rooming situation would turn out well, another side of himself questioned for how long?

Too boring was the most frequent diagnosis handed to him. He wondered how Oikawa felt about boring.

"Sure!  Why not?  I'll be sure to let you know when we have a home game." To be honest, Oikawa was far more ready to know when they would be having official matches than his room mate.  He had been off the court too long; what with having to study for his finals and then preparing for the move, games and practice, sadly, had just not been on the top of his to do list.

He had kept up with his training and conditioning no problems, but now he definitely wanted to stretch his talents and let himself fly, preferably with others of the same skill level like him.  It would be a wonder as well, meeting all his old high school friends and rivals a like on new territory.  Just the thought of meeting a certain someone any time soon sent a thrill up his spine.

"Hmm?  Sure!  I'll head down and give you a hand; all my boxes have already been moved in."

Thanks to some well asked for help and a quick payment of bills.

Propping the door open with one of his still filled boxes, Oikawa led the way out into the hall and toward the stairways that would lead them to the lobby.  They were only on the first floor (thank God) and as this place didn't come equipped with an elevator, it made Oikawa more than thankful for only the slight climb.

Shifting his weight, he glanced around at the scattered people taking notice of them. The raven just meekly smiled back, probably with some awkward expression. How was he supposed to react to these people? They were probably all annoyed from their previous commotion.

As Oikawa moved off of him, Tobio gave a small pout. "You’re embarrassing." Not surprised that his color choice was declined, he set the pair back. "How am i supposed to know all that? You should have been more specific." Watching the other scan the table, Tobio wondered what all the shades looked like to him. Finally, he decided on a mint bluish color. So he wanted something that didn’t stand out too much; basically. It was very similar to the Seijou colors.

"Mh?" Receiving an obnoxious pair of orange headphones, he frowned. He didn’t mind the color so much, but why would he want to buy them after someone just said how gross the color was? "…No, i said i didn’t really like headphones. Besides, you just insulted the color, why would i want to wear them?" He gave the boy a weird look, it was nice to know Oikawa thought his school colors sucked; but it wasn’t like it bothered him or anything;

Sure enough, none of it really helped, and Oikawa let his laughter out.  His shoulders hunched and shook as he continued to laugh, knowing even more people were turning toward them.  Eventually, he was able to let it die down, reaching out to clutch at Tobio's shoulder to reassure what he knew would be a depraved and angry expression the younger boy would be wearing.

"Don't worry.  I'm not laughing at you!" Tobio would have a tough time believing him, given their nature and previous interactions, but it was the honest truth.  "You just said a lot of things in the space of ten seconds that made me really happy!"

Eventually Oikawa managed to stop laughing completely, deciding on the pair he had picked up previously and then grabbing Tobio's arm to move him towards another part of the store.  

Finally, they were able to amble their way to Kuroo's home, where Oikawa forced the front door open without even asking if Kuroo had a key (like he'd remember where he kept it on him anyway) and pulled Kuroo over the threshold.

"Welcome home," Oikawa said to no one in particular, not wasting any time in pushing Kuroo to the living room, slamming him down onto the couch and slamming various pillows down onto his form.

"'K.  Now you don't move for, like, twelve hours.  Sleep off the drugs and pray to God you don't wake up with your shoulder screaming bloody murder."

Still, Oikawa didn't hesitate to reach up a hand and tangle it in black, wiry strands, stroking his skull and feeling Kuroo's warm breath on his neck.  He decided, for both their sakes, to ignore the shivers that were running down his arms.  Because they weren't important; not now, maybe not ever.

"Of course I had to stay," Oikawa finally spoke, chuckling slightly, accidentally jostling Kuroo as his shoulder shook.  "Who else was gonna take you home in your drugged up state?"

Though Kuroo could've called anyone of his plethora of followers, it didn't take a genius, on or off the court, to know that explaining such a thing more than once would be a hassle.  Besides, explaining to doctors who were only asking for the sake of practical use was one thing; trying to explain to someone who knew you on a personal level why you were in the hospital with a dislocated shoulder and bruises up and down your throat was another thing entirely.

Oikawa?

No.  Not now.  Not here.  

"Kuroo!  Get back!" but Satou was fast, and with the kagune keeping Oikawa down, he couldn’t move as Satou stood, moving swiftly towards the man who had been dragged into something he had no control over.  For the first time, Oikawa was sorry he had been the one to do it.

So he bit.  He knawed.  He clawed at the long limbs constricting him.  Finally, Satou flinched.  It was only for a fraction of a second, but it was enough.  Oikawa broke free, using all his strength to race forward, slamming himself into Kuroo’s chest before Satou could reach him.

Landing in the dirt, his shoulder burning and blood dripping everywhere, Oikawa knew that all of that had only happened within the space of a few seconds, no matter how many hours it had felt like as it had happened.  He stood, briefly asking Kuroo if he was alright, before turning to Satou.

"You made a mistake I’ve seen many volleyball teams make time and time again."

Crouching, baring his hands, his teeth growing long and his pupils being swallowed by the black and red that showed who he was, what he was, Oikawa was ready once again.

"He'll be out in a minute," a pretty nurse told him as he made a show of creaking his neck and mumbling under his breath about how damned long hospitals seemed to take to set a couple of bones.  Hell, he would've done it himself if not for his certainty that the man in question would absolutely refuse against such a thing.

Please.  Like he hadn't shoved a shoulder back in its socket before.  Occupational hazard.

While waiting, Oikawa pushed a few coins into the machine and let it make him a horrible, 90 yen latte that would probably only make him retch more than anything.  But still, at least the grinding noises filled the otherwise empty room, and the smell was familiar in its own way.

The colour of the drink didn't remind him of the red that had been previously oozing out of his shoulder.  The pathetic excuse for froth didn't make him remember the foam dripping out of the other ghoul's mouth, how it had disgustingly dripped over him as they fought relentlessly in the alleyway.  Finally, the drink was done and Oikawa took a hold of the cup, ignoring the burning stinging on his palm and skulled half the hot liquid in one go, sighing heavily as he brought it back from his lips.

Yes.  Disgusting.

Turning around, he noticed the nurse from before watching him, a stunned look on her face as she tried to fathom what he had just done.

"Eh heh..." Oikawa laughed, nervously.  "Thirsty."

He drew from those traits in the next moment, giving a smile that effused a light and natural charm, hoping to abate the worst of the tension that had risen between them in the past few minutes. “But I don’t think it will be hard getting used to living with you.”

  He wanted to try to get along, he really did, and he would be happy if they could find friendship along the way even if they turned out to be complete opposites in personality. But as it would turn out, they had one more thing in common in addition to being only children.

He didn't need to try.

Though Oikawa gave off the appearance that he didn't try hard to please those around him, his casual jokes and jeers rolling out of his mouth as easy as food entered it, the truth was, there was never a time he wasn't wondering what people thought of him.  Was what he had said taken the wrong way?  Should he not have voiced his beliefs about religion?  Maybe they didn't like that movie and would judge him when they learnt it was his favourite.  It was a constant inward war that Oikawa never seemed to win nor lose.  It was difficult.

Yet he had been blessed with a person who, to put it frankly, didn't give a shit.  Of course he minded when Oikawa used the furniture beyond it's proper use or if he over stepped his boundaries, but that was being a human being, not a proper room mate.  This person, this nice, non-chalant, happy and open person, had now been assigned to live with someone his exact opposite; and Oikawa couldn't be more thankful.

"Yes!" Oikawa cried cheerfully, finding more they had in common as the conversation progressed.  The fact that this man would know whatever he was going on about whenever he came back from games, rather than just politely listening, would only make their time together that much more enjoyable. "Of course.  I need to keep playing.  And I'm not just saying that because I'd rather die than stop playing; my time here is funded by volleyball.  I'm on a scholarship."

"What are you doing, Grand King?!?! That’s cheating!"

"Do you mind doing that a little lower, Chibi-chan?  You're almost at my knot."