CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

      Tooru Oikawa prided himself on being good at noticing things. Not that he was bragging about it, but he really was very good at understanding his teammates and the people around him. So, it did not go unnoticed by him that Misaki was starting to look like she was dead inside due to a lack of sleep. Other people wouldn't have noticed and even he, himself, wouldn't have properly realized it earlier. But now that he was dating her, Oikawa was noticing all these things about her that he had never really seen before and they were making her all the more endearing.

      Except, he wouldn't lie. Oikawa was worried about her; not just around tournaments, in many situations, Misaki would let herself get stressed out, worrying about what would happen. And in the way she had helped him, he also wanted to help her out however he could.

      There were just two days left for the Spring High prelims and the whole team was practising really hard. Especially the third years, who knew that this was their last chance to get to the Nationals. Oikawa, on seeing the current team, could proudly say they had a chance to go. Every single member was highly capable, and they had the chance to beat stupid Tobio and stupid Ushiwaka's teams and win. This tournament was going to be theirs.

      Today was just another normal practice and like always, the coaches had cut the practice short, forcing everyone to go home and get proper rest. Instead of going home and reviewing the games of their opponent teams like he usually did, Oikawa tagged along with Misaki to her house and that's where he was now, pestering the hell out of his girlfriend.

     "Misa-chan!" Oikawa whined as he flopped down on her bed. "Come on, give me a hug!"

      "Absolutely not," Misaki sent him a glare as she sat down at her desk, opening up her laptop. "You should go home and rest properly so that you can be at your best for the prelims."

      "But I'm my best when I'm around you," Oikawa said, with a clear intention to flirt with her. He smirked to himself when he noticed the tips of Misaki's ears were a burning red. Success.

      "S-shut up," Misaki answered, sounding a little flustered. "That's not true."

      "But it is," Oikawa said, rather smoothly as he sat up on the bed. Misaki hadn't noticed that action yet as she continued to type away on her laptop. "You know I never lie to you."

      Misaki snorted. "Oh yeah? Since when?" But she still hadn't looked away from the laptop. Neither had she noticed that Oikawa was quietly tiptoeing towards her. "Oikawa you, my lovely boyfriend, are a born liar."

      "Hey, that's really mean, Misa-chan! And you sounded like you mean it!"

      "Of course, I meant it. You are somehow, exceptionally good at lying, but I can kind of see through them and - oof!"

      Right at that very moment, Oikawa spun around the chair and leaned down, practically draping himself over Misaki. He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck, before burying his face into her shoulders. The perfect method to get Misaki to listen. The position they were currently in was highly uncomfortable, yet neither of them had moved away.

      "If you needed a hug, you could have just asked, you know," Misaki mumbled, putting her arms around him. "I wouldn't say no to that."

      "You're such a hypocrite, aren't you Misa-chan?" Oikawa quietly said as he pulled up Misaki from the chair, now both in a standing position next to the desk. "You tell me to take care of myself, but then you neglect yourself."

      "I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about," Misaki said, even though she knew exactly what he was referring to.

      "Liar," Oikawa said, using one of his hands to pull on her cheeks, while his face remained buried into her shoulders. "I know you haven't been sleeping. I can see it on your face."

      "I have been sleeping, dumbass. Just not well."

      "You know what I mean."

       "I'm fine though. You don't need to worry about me at all."

       "As your loving and amazing boyfriend, it is my duty to be worried about you."

       Oikawa moved away from the hug and leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. Before Misaki had a chance to respond, he moved away. Letting out a small whine (that almost sounded like him), she pulled at the front of his t-shirt and responded to his kiss with one of her own.

      Abruptly, Oikawa pulled away, grinning at the almost-angry look on Misaki's face. In a rather haughty tone, he said, "If you don't sleep properly tonight, then I won't kiss you."

      "That's not fair!" Misaki's pout was so adorable that he nearly caved in, but at the last second, managed to stop himself.

      He lightly pulled on Misaki's cheeks. "Nuh-uh. You told me to take care of myself, so you should be doing the same, Misa-chan."

      "That's not the -"

      "It is. And knowing that you are so needy for a kiss from me...well, I'm so holding that over your head."

      "Oh, I hate you."

      "Nah, you love me."

      "Unfortunately."

      "Unfortunately? Unfortunately?? Hey! What's that supposed to mean? Misa-chan!?"

       Misaki giggled before letting herself lean into Oikawa's chest. He didn't miss the opportunity, wrapping his arms around her. He slowly ran his hands through her beautiful red hair, wrapping it around his fingers and gently tugging on it. God, he loved it. Somehow, very slowly, he managed to manoeuvre them both towards the bed. Oikawa lightly pushed Misaki towards the bed.

      "You better go to sleep now, Misa-chan," He said firmly, but at the same time also sounded gentle. "Or no more kisses for you."

      "You won't relent at all, will you?"

      "Nope!"

      But the moment Misaki's head hit her pillow, she immediately fell asleep. Oikawa snickered, covering his mouth as he did so. He reached over to the end of her bed and grabbed the blanket kept there. Gently, he set the blanket on top of her. The scene was so utterly domestic that it made Oikawa's heart clench.

      He brushed some of her hair out of her forehead, letting his hand rest against her cheek for a few seconds.

      Smiling to himself, Oikawa moved his hand away. 'A good end to a good day.'

      Hajime Iwaizumi prided himself on being the type of guy willing to help people. But what he didn't expect it to come with was these weird feelings he got around Yuki. It wasn't like he didn't know what these feelings were; the beginnings of a stupid little crush. But he refused to let himself think like that. He was a third-year, graduating in a few months and Yuki was still a first-year. And he was leaving for California. So it's not like anything could happen in these few months.

     But, unsurprisingly, he did like hanging out with her a lot more than the two idiots he called his best friends. She was nice and kind and really funny too. He could also fully insult Oikawa around her. Sometimes, even Yuki joined in on making fun of the captain. And that immediately made her a great person in his view.

     'Having a crush is fine,' Iwaizumi thought. 'But it's the friendship that is always better.'

      Now that Misaki and Oikawa had become an overly annoying love-sick couple, Iwaizumi flat-out refused to walk home with them. It was also pretty strange that how dating Oikawa had suddenly turned Misaki from a sane person, into a female, though a less-annoying version of Oikawa. Just one Oikawa was enough. He wasn't sure if he was ready to handle two.

      So, for the past few days, he had been walking home with Yuki. And lucky for them, her house was halfway between the path to school and his house. And so, he didn't have to go out of his way either.

      Today was another one of these days, he thought, as he walked to the gates of the school. The coaches had called off the practice very early like they usually did around the time of tournaments. Most of the team had already left.

      "Ready to go, senpai?" Yuki asked as she spotted Iwaizumi walking up to the gates, as she stood next to them.

      "Yeah," Iwaizumi said. Taking the chance, he ruffled her hair; the action had become a way of greeting between them. "Let's go."

      Quietly, the two started walking away. As the school gates were left behind and they entered the quiet neighbourhoods, their conversation slipped into completely random territory. Or at least until...

      "Are you okay, Iwaizumi-senpai? You seem a bit distracted," Yuki suddenly said.

      "Hmm? No, I'm fine. Just thinking about stuff."

      "Which is?"

       Now, if it were anyone else, Iwaizumi would have promptly told them to stay out of his business. But since it was Yuki (and she was the type of person you could share everything with) So...

      "The match. Plus the future and other shit." ('and also the stupid little crush'; but he didn't say that part out loud)

      "So, deep stuff, huh?"

      "I guess so."

      "Well, if you wanna talk about it, I'm here to listen," Yuki smiled kindly. That nearly made Iwaizumi's heart jump. Nearly.

      "Maybe I'll take you up on that someday."

      "Okay. I'll wait for you."

      "I won't make you wait for long then."

       "Hmm, yeah. I know you won't."

      ('Was Iwaizumi actually flirting? Could this even be classified as flirting??)

      ('This is just a silly little crush. Just. A. Silly. Little. Crush.)

This chapter was just another excuse for me to write more fluff, especially for Yuki and Iwaizumi. In defence of Iwaizumi though, I'd like to say, he's a little oblivious, but he's got the spirit 🤭🤭. This chapter also has a tiny bit of foreshadowing about the Iwaizumi fic hehe; that fic should hopefully be up in January, but I can't promise that lol

Also, I don't think I mentioned it but this fic is very close to the end. So, now I'm gonna have a countdown at the end of the remaining chapters till we hit the final one. But there will also be a long epilogue for this and I'll be adding some deleted scenes as well.

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

COUNTDOWN: 5