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The dreadful walk of shame is unavoidable for any athlete. No matter how many times you walk away from a major loss, it never gets easier. They get harder the more you do them especially if it's after losing the last game of your high school career, debatably the most important game of your life.
A little dramatic maybe but theatrics seem to be becoming more natural after having the most oversized drama queen as your best friend for 16 years. Iwaizumi wasn’t a fan of theatrics especially if they were coming from Oikawa. As much as he hates to admit it, Iwaizumi will always fall victim to Oikawa's theatrics and give him the attention he doesn’t deserve. Much like right now.
The loss to Karasuno is still fresh on his mind, and while the extra practice with the other third years was a good outlet for all his pent-up frustration, Iwaizumi finds he’s still just as frustrated as he was earlier. If not more frustrated and annoyed. Being captain and vice-captain meant being the last to leave the gym, and having the great responsibility of locking up.
But it's a little hard to lock up when your captain seemed to sneak off with the keys as you were showering. Honestly, Iwaizumi should know better at this point, but that little voice was nagging at him to have a little more faith in his best friend. Like always the voice was dead wrong.
Iwaizumi stomps down the halls mumbling to herself, “God, where is he? Practice ended over an hour ago.”
Iwaizumi knows all too well where Oikawa went, there’s no other place for him to go. It doesn’t take away from it being annoying to hunt him down. The closer Iwaizumi gets to the gym doors, the louder the sound of Oikawa’s powerful spikes. Unimpressed Iwaizumi yanks open the gym door. Just for good measures, Iwaizumi makes sure to project his voice when he says;
“Well look who we have here” his voice is cold and demanding, a tone he knows will get Oikawa’s attention.
Oikawa stiffened and stopped his approach for his jump serve. As the volleyball falls to the floor Oikawa turns around towards Iwaizumi.
“Iwa-chan! What are you still doing here? I thought you left already” Oikawa pouts dramatically and grumbles under his breath “I thought you left with everyone else”.
“I’m sorry, what was that? I didn’t seem to catch that last part” Iwaizumi at this point is unimpressed with Oikawa’s stunts. It's not the first time nor probably the last time Oikawa is going to sneak off after practice to cram more practice until he collapses and physically can’t do anymore.
“Nothing! I just thought you know, you would’ve left with everyone else. Today was pretty intense” Oikawa still doesn’t bother to turn around and face his best friend. He knows the moment he does he’ll crumble. As if falling apart once isn’t bad enough, a second time within the same day is downright humiliating.
Maybe, just maybe Ushijima had a point in saying his pride will be his downfall. Not only on the court but outside of the court as well. And while he may be able to fool anyone else with his cocky facade, there's one person on this planet that won’t ever fall for his act. Unfortunately for him, one person is just behind him.
His best friend, his partner, his ace, his right-hand man, his everything. His Iwa-chan. As much as he loves him, more than he can even understand right now, the last thing he needs is to have the one person that can read him like an open book to be in the same room as him. Not only that, whether Iwa-chan likes to admit it, he's a brute to every extent of the word. Sometimes tough love is what Oikawa needs, a nice slap back into reality. With a personality like his, he needs someone to keep him grounded. And that is precisely what Iwaizumi does for him, he keeps Oikawa grounded, he drags Oikawa out of his head, and he loses himself in his thoughts. When everything around him seems to fade into the background. Iwaizumi appears to break that third wall Oikawa starts building. Iwaizumi has to come in and remind him he's not the main character, he's not in a story, this is real life, and others around him matter just as much as he does. Much to his distaste.
While he wouldn’t trade Iwaizumi for anything in this world, while to Oikawa Iwaizumi could not get any more perfect, right now, Iwazumi’s brute nature is the last thing he needs. Oikawa feels as fragile as glass and the tiniest grip on him will only shatter him further. Not that his Iwa-chan would purposefully hurt him physically, but his words cut deep. It’s not always intentional, Iwaizumi just never mastered the art of sugar-coating. It seems so pointless to him, why go around the issue at hand when you could just head-dive straight into it?
“Yeah, today was pretty intense, for everyone, not just you. You know that right?” Iwaizumi says as he slowly walks toward Oikawa
“Huh? What’s the supposed to mean huh? Do you think I’m selfish enough to think that this was just my great defeat? Do you think I’m so self-absorbed to think this was just the end of my volleyball career ? Do you think it was just my dreams that were shattered?”
“No one said your volleyball career is over. “ Iwaizumi raises an eyebrow at Oikawa and picks up one of the lingering volleyball and hands it towards Oikawa.
Oikawa eyes the volleyball questioningly before yanking it away from Iwaizumi because how could he not get it?
“ Oh? Do you think so? Do you think any of the scouts are going to want me now? When I couldn’t even lead my damn team to victory? Huh? Everyone was counting on me to bring Seijoh to nationals. It was supposed to be our year Iwa-chan. It was finally supposed to be the year I beat the great Ushi-Waka but guess what I didn-”
“Oh for christ's sake! No one is taking away anything from you, especially your future, your career is just starting. And may I remind you again, you weren’t the only one who lost, we all did. You didn’t lose as an individual. You didn’t fail, and you especially didn’t fail as a captain, we all did, fail I mean, the team failed...if anything we failed you-” Iwaixumi slowly starts raising his voice. He didn’t want this to end in a screaming match but if Oikawa thinks he can ignore and block him out by bouncing the volleyball louder and louder, he has another thing coming.
“Don’t you dare say that-” Oikawa stops almost immediately and whips his head to give Iwaizumi the nastiest glare he could muster.
“Oh, what do you get to be the only one that takes all the blame?” Honestly, after so many years of playing volleyball and becoming team captain of one of the biggest powerhouses in Miyagi, Iwaizumi would think Oikawa understands when a team loses. The loss doesn’t fall on a single person but the whole team.
“No, it's just- it's a lot to process okay?” Oikawa keeps bouncing the volleyball and starts getting ready to practice his monster serves.
“And you know what's going to help you process this better? Going home and getting some proper rest”
“Hmm, what was that Iwa-chan, I couldn’t quite hear you” Oikawa is more focused on landing his next jump serve than his best friend. Honestly, Oikawa doesn’t even know how long he's been at it for now. While every jump serves he lands tires him out, the more he lands the more rage takes over his body.
He knows he's good. He knows he has a killer arm. And he knows his team is one of the best ones in the prefecture. So why? Why was that not enough to beat a non-powerhouse school like Karasuno? If the losses to Shiritorizowa were unbearable, this feels like a new low for him. Karasuno wasn’t supposed to get in his way. No, not even Karasuno, but Kageyama. The little brat can’t seem to give Oikawa a break.
Iwaizumis's calm exterior is slowly cumbling away. He did try but his captain does have a way of pushing his buttons. “Cut it out crappy-kawa. Come on, I’ll help you clean up”. A glance around the gym and Iwazumi knows clean-up is going to be a pain. Seriously how many volleyballs did this idiot need? “Oi! You know better than to keep volleyballs lying around”.
Oikawa ignores Iwaizumi, almost as if anything Iwaizumi’s words fell on deaf ears. They might as well have as Oikawa keeps looking forward and starts getting ready to do his next jump serve. As the volleyball goes up in the air and Oikawa starts approaching the ball, he trips over a volleyball left near his feet. At that moment a quiet gym never sounded so loud. The thumps of both Oikawa falling and the ball, but a snap echoed off the gym walls.
“Shoot. Not now” startled Iwaizumu jogs towards Oikawa whose face is pinched with pain as he held his knee.
“Oh. Wow, that um hurts” if it wasn’t his face it was the voice crack that gave him away. As Iwaizumi scrambles on the floor toward Oikawa.
“Dammit, Shitty-kawa what did I just say?”
“Can you uh..pass me my bag I have my leg brace in there and some painkillers in there” Oikawa waves over to his bag on the other side of the gym.
Hesitantly, with an eyebrow raised, Iwaizumi stands up and walks towards Oikawa's bag. As Iwaizumi picks up Oikawa's bag he's suddenly hit with a sense of deja-vu. Much to his dismay, this exact scene has been played many times before. The first real incident dates back to their Kita-gawa first days.
“Hello? Earth to Iwa-chan? I thought even a brute like you could understand my simple directions but I guess I over-estimated your-”
“And when I give you your bag what are you going to do huh?” Oikawa's attempt to lighten the mood had only soured Iwaizumi’s even further. There is no reason why they’re doing the same song and dance still 5 years later.
“What do you mean? What am I going to do? I’m going to suck it up and keep practicing”
“Ke-Keep practicing? Are you out of your damn mind! No. I’m not-” it's been a long day as it is but Oikawa is seriously warning out his patience.
“You’re not going to what? Help your best friend when they’re clearly in so much pain?” Oikawa's face slowly falls into a scowl and he slams his fist onto the floor. He might as well be pouting.
“Would you stop being so dramatic for a second?” Iwaizumi angrily stomps over to Oikawa. He goes to squat down in front of Oikawa and with a taunting smirk, he holds the bag out of Oikawa's reach. The height difference is damned at this moment Iwaizumi had the upper hand and was not going to let this opportunity go to waste.
“Iwa-chan! Stop this isn’t funny I can’t be wasting precious time to-”
“Wasting time doing what? No, listen here, what you need is to start using this” Iwaizumi goes to thump Oikawa's forehead as he continues,
“Hey! Stop that!” the pout on Oikawa's face grows deeper as he swats at Iwaizumi’s hand. “I'm being serious here!”
Iwaizumi took a second before taking a deep breath. He honestly shouldn’t be surprised at this point. His best friend is the most stubborn person he’s ever encountered. At times it's admirable, hell it even is inspirational. No sane person would put their all in and make it their ultimate goal to defeat one guy. A monster of a player.
For six years straight.
It was seeing Oikawa getting so worked up every time they lost a game to Ushiwaka that further pushed Iwaizumi to become the ace he is today. Oikawa’s hunger to be better only motivated Iwaizumi and made him want to be a better player. Trying oh so desperately to catch up to his partner, with a fear of being a burden more than anything to his partner. It eventually bled into him wanting to be someone the underclassmen can look up to and rely on. He would be the pillar not only for his partner needed but for the rest of his team. God, does Iwaizumi feel like he should thank Oikawa for his high school volleyball career. Oikawa is truly an inspiration to him and everyone else on Seijoh. He is the reason they even got as far as they did, keeping Seijoh as one of the powerhouse schools in all of Miyagi.
But at times like these, god Iwaizumi wants to strangle his childhood best friend. When it comes to pushing himself until his breaking point, Oikawa Touru can never disappoint. Practicing until he physically can’t go on anymore. While that is already dangerous, Oikawa tends to disregard his knee. Straining yourself every day can take a toll on your body, who would’ve thought?
Iwaizumi lets out a frustrated sigh and collapses on the floor next to his idiot of a captain, well ex-captain now. He starts rummaging through Oikawa's bag looking for his painkillers. “And so am I, I told you to be more careful”
“But I was! Iwa-chan you have to believe me. This sort of just happened it’s no big deal.”
Oikawa is quickly cut off when Iwaizumi decides to throw the pill bottle at his head. That brute! Can’t he see how much pain Oikawa is in right now?
“There you go. Let me see your knee for a second”. Iwaizumi crouches over Oikawa's knee and starts to feel around it. From the looks of it, it’s only slightly inflamed. Iwaizumi nods his head to himself. He slowly rises and starts to turn when Oikawa’s loud screech stops him.
“Hey! Iwa-chan! Where are you going? Can’t you see I’m injured?”
With a hand on his hip, Iwaizumi raises an eyebrow towards his bratty best friend “To try and look for help? I think coach has a wheelchair in his office”
“What and leave me here? Alone? You can’t leave me here alone what if-Wait don’t tell me you’re thinking about calling-” as Oikawa tries to swiftly stand up his knee buckles halfway up and stumbles back onto the floor.
Iwaizumi rushes over to Oikawa and helps him break his fall. With a hand on his back, Iwaizumi starts to rub circles on his friend's back when he notices Oikawa’s pout starts to form.
“Come on stupidkawa, just wait for me, you clearly can’t walk right now”
“Oh come on! I just got up too fast. I promise it’s not even that bad and-”
Iwaixumis's harsh glare is enough to shut up any other retort Oikawa had.
“Don’t even think about it. Stay here, I’ll be right back. Promise”
Oikawa is soon filled with panic when he realizes the soothing circles on his back are no longer there and feels Iwaizumi getting ready to stand up. He’s quick to act as he clings onto Iwaizumis's arm, pulling on the Seijoh jacket.
“Ah! Ow. No, please! It hurts and I don’t want to be alone right now” to top it all off Oikawa puts on his best puppy-dog eyes. It’s no secret Iwaizumi has a weakness in his best friend's eyes. They don’t talk about it, how a couple of pleading words and doe eyes is enough to have a brute like Iwaizumi folding.
With a deep aggravated sigh, Iwaizumi counts “Fine. If I promise to stay will you cut the act already?”
“Mean! I just got injured, this very injury could mark the end of my volleyball career and you-you think I’m just what? Making a scene because”
Iwaizumi snorts and takes a seat next to Oikawa before pulling out his phone and sending a quick text to Makki and Mattsun.
“No, I just know you too well. If it hurts that much or you think this is an injury that’s going to end your volleyball career you would be shamelessly bawling your eyes out right now” With frantic texts from Makki and Mattsun Iwaizumi contemplates what kind of message to send to Oikawa’s parents.
“You’re not-”
“I texted Makki and Mattsun and I texted your parents that you’re staying over at mine tonight.”
“Wh-Makki? And Mattsun? What are those two idiots going to do in this situation?” Oikawa puffs his chest and crosses his arms with a scowl on his face.
“Help me knock some sense into your head. Listen I didn’t text your mom that you were overworking yourself after today’s match. I am doing the responsible thing and texted someone for help.
With a loud gasp, Oikawa slaps Iwaizumi “Hey! Are you trying to say I’m irresponsible? I’ll have you know-”
“No I think you’re plenty responsible, you wouldn’t be our beloved captain otherwise. You are plenty capable and responsible to take care of and lead a powerhouse team” a smirk sneaks its way onto Iwaizumis face, he can’t help it, his best friend truly is something.
“But not capable enough to get us to Nationals. I mean what kind of captain can’t get his team through the preliminaries? I failed the team, And worse it was to Tobio-chan.” Oikawa puffs out whilst bringing his knees up to his chest. This was supposed to be their year, his year, and his last opportunity to show up Ushiwaka.
Iwaizumis face is quick to fall to a bitter expression at the statement. “What did I say earlier? Were you not listening to me? Not so let me make this clear. You are not responsible for the loss we had today, okay? You didn’t fail as a captain and you sure as hell didn’t fail as a player. One loss doesn’t mean it’s the end okay? Especially not for you, god especially not for you. Matter of fact, in case this wasn’t clear the first hundred times, we didn’t fail as a team either. It just so happens that we got matched up with a team who was surprisingly stronger than us. And you better start getting used to that. You can’t always expect to win, some teams and players are going to be stronger than you. But if you want to beat them you’re going to have to train not only harder but smarter too. Not just you, you and whatever poor team is going to have to put up with you” pinching the bridge of his nose Iwaizumi lets out a deep sigh before continuing. No matter how many years have passed lecturing someone as stubborn as Oikawa never gets easier, if anything it seems to get harder each time.
“But before any of that, you’re going to have to learn the difference between working harder and plain ole just burning yourself out. You don’t want to set a bad example to the underclassmen, do you? Especially not to Yahaba. The kid looks up to you, and he’s going to be the next captain come next spring. Please for his sake, set a better example for him than this.”
“Ugh! Why must you insist on lecturing me like this? And bringing up Yahaba? Unfair! Uncalled for! Why don’t you worry about your little mad-dog? He’s already a brute on his own and having you-”
Iwaizumi cuts Oikawa off with a good whack to the back of the head. With a playful smirk, he threatens his idiot captain, “I suggest you stop right there before I make sure you won’t be able to use your right leg ever again.”
The empty threat is enough to lighten the mood and with a dramatic huff Oikawa flings his arms around before screeching. “Mean! Mean! Iwa-chan! Stop it!” With his arms flinging around Oikawa manages to slap Iwaizumi, accidentally of course. Iwaizumi being the brute he is doesn't see it was clearly an accident and slaps Oikawa back.
Suddenly the setter and ace are having a chicken competition. Iwaizumi finds an opening after hitting Oikawa harder than before, while Oikawa screams and goes to pull back his hands, Iwaizumi is quick to grab onto his hands and pull Oikawa closer to him. They both sit still, breathless, and subconsciously intertwine their hands. Iwaizumi is the one to break the silence.
“No, but seriously, were you paying attention to anything I said earlier? Or did everything fly over your head like it usually does?” A soft chuckle escapes Iwaizumi’s lips and he starts rubbing gentle circles on Oikawa’s hand.
“No-I, yeah. I heard you, it’s just a lot to digest right now” slowly all the tension Oikawa had built up seems to escape him. He sinks into his best friend's rare gentle touch.
But the statement seems to alert the wing-spiker and he stops running circles on the setter's hand but doesn’t let go.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to go off on you like that. God. I probably sounded like your mother. No wonder you’re always calling me your-” as Iwaizumi starts to ramble, he realizes their hands have been connected for a while and harshly pulls his hand back. He can feel a blush starting to form so he turns his head to the side to try and hide it. But Oikawa’s keen eye was able to catch the pink creeping onto his friend's face. And he’ll be dammed if he lets an opportunity like this slip away.
Oikawa knows he's dramatic, but he isn’t kidding when he feels his hand turn ice cold at the loss of contact. Chasing the warmth of his best friend's hands Oikawa reaches out for Iwaizui’s hands. Firmly holding them, he feels safe once more. Logically holding his best friend's hands shouldn’t bring as much comfort as it does. There is no reason Oikawa should feel safer when being held by a boy shorter than him. But he can’t help but feel this way. It’s a feeling Oikawa hasn't been able to shake off for years now. And maybe, it’s about time he stops ignoring the warmth Iwaizumi offers.
“Don’t be, I’m glad you did. That’s why you’re my vice-captain right? You’re there to man down the fort when the crazy captain is losing his mind right?” Oikawa lets the soft chuckle escape his lips before continuing. “Sorry about that. I sure do cause you a lot of headaches and stress for you huh? Especially these last three years.” A frown creeps its way onto Oikawa’s face as the statement settles in. He truly is a pain. To everyone around him but especially to the person most precious to him. God Iwa-chan must be counting down the days before he is finally free. Longing the moment distance because the perfect excuse to let go and move on. Move on from Miyagi; move on from Oikawa. They’ve talked about it once. Not as of recently. It’s a sore subject for Oikawa. Maybe Iwaizumi is happy he’ll no longer have to take care of him, but Oikawa is not ready to let go. He knows he eventually has to stop relying on Iwa-chan for comfort. But goddammit he still has time to be selfish and soak up these last few weeks with his childhood friend.
Being friends with someone for so long can never accustom you to their own stupidity. Iwaizumi knows how wrapped up Oikawa can get in his head. Iwaizumi is however accustomed to knowing just when Oikawa’s head starts to wander off where it has no business going off to.
“You know, just because this was our last official match together as captain and vice-captian, doesn’t mean you’re going to stop being my partner right? I wouldn’t trade the last three years, especially not this last year. I’m glad to be standing by your side, giving it our all on the court. I’m just asking you to be a little more self-aware. For me, okay? I won’t always be there to whip you back into shape or back into reality. Especially with us going to different colleges. We’ll be in a similar enough time zone though, so it’ll be easier for me to contact you. Just know, this isn’t the end yet. Not for us, no matter how much it feels like the end. You’ll always have me as your-as your partner.”
A thick tension worms its way into the air, but as suffocating as the empty gym feels, they both choose to stay close, choose to let their hands stay intertwined.
“Yeah, I’ll try my best. And hey? I appreciate you and all you’ve done for me. Not only as your teammate but as your friend. And you’re right, this isn’t the end, I still have to beat you after all.” There it is. The ultimate challenge. A challenge that won’t take up until years to occur. A competition, the ultimate competition between them. Unaware to them both of how the match will unfold, but knowing Oikawa still has years to keep Iwaizumi around him, makes the uncertainty worth it.
Sensing what Oikawa is implying Iwaizumi swallows hard before mustering the courage to open his mouth again. He holds Oikawa’s hands a little tighter and leans into Oikawa's personal space before muttering
“You know, challenging me isn’t the only way to keep me around. Stupid-kawa.”
Before Oikawa has time to process the close proximity between the two of them, a loud slam startles them away from each other.