CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

      Losing always hurt. In every single situation, losing hurt.

      To Iwaizumi, losing this match felt like his heart was being torn apart. Because not only was this his last match in high school, it was his last match. Ever. Unlike Oikawa, he was not going to be pursuing volleyball as a career in the future, though he still was going to do sports medicine and stay in a similar field. But it was not the same.

      It could never be.

      It had barely been a week since the loss and Iwaizumi couldn't lie. He still wasn't over it. Even in school, sitting in class, he thought about it. He thought about he could have done things better; how he could have landed Oikawa's perfect toss. Iwaizumi thought of a million different scenarios; but nothing could change the outcome of the match they lost.

     He refused to admit this to either Oikawa or Misaki. Both of them would practically smother him with concern and Iwaizumi didn't need something like that. He just wanted someone to talk to. Someone who could understand what it felt. And at the same time, he also wanted to be alone. Iwaizumi felt like he was on tenterhooks, ready to snap at whoever asked that dreaded question.

      'Are you okay?'

      Iwaizumi was (not) okay. (He'd be okay.)

      At recess, Iwaizumi chose to sit alone. He would have sat with his fellow third years, but Hanamaki and Matsukawa were off doing their own thing and Oikawa and Misaki were probably making out in some isolated corner of the school. He walked through the corridors, saying a quick hello to the people he recognized.

      Iwaizumi kept on walking, till he was almost out of the school building.

     "Iwaizumi-senpai, is that you?"

      He froze at the sound of the voice. Of course, he recognized it instantly. How couldn't he? He turned around, seeing Yuki wave towards him, carrying her lunch box, tied up in a pale blue cloth. Iwaizumi looked down at his own lunch box; the colors were practically the same. Weird coincidence, he thought.

      "Hey," Iwaizumi said, a little roughly. Even if it was Yuki, he still wanted to be alone. And now that she was here, he had to figure out a way of getting her to leave him alone.

      "Hello, hello!" Yuki greeted him enthusiastically, a bright smile on her face. Iwaizumi's heart skipped a beat, but he would never admit that out loud. "I haven't seen you in a while. Wanna eat lunch together?"

      If it were any other day, Iwaizumi would have instantly said yes. But today, he just wanted to be alone. "Aren't you gonna eat with your friends?"

     "Well, I would," Yuki suddenly looked sheepish. "But out of the two best friends I made in my class, one of them is sick and the other is in the library finished homework for a class we have afterwards. I could always hang out with the team, but I'm not that close with any of them. So, basically, that brings us here."

     "Is it okay if I eat lunch with you today? I hope I'm not imposing on you," She asked, sweetly and in a way Iwaizumi couldn't say no.

     "Sure, I guess," He answered. Having a crush was a real pain.

      Now, both of them walked together. Somehow, the two managed to find an isolated spot that wasn't too far from the main school building and didn't have anyone there. There was no bench, but there was a circular concrete wall around a tree and that was where they sat. Yuki talked while Iwaizumi was quiet. But he gladly let her fill the silence.

      He was sure if he spoke up now, only angry words would come out. And he refused to let someone as nice and kind as Yuki see him like that.

      "Umm...Iwaizumi-senpai, can I say something?"

      "Yeah, go on."

        Iwaizumi looked at Yuki through the corner of his eyes. She looked like she was in deep concentration. Before he could say anything, she just spoke out.

       "I would ask you if you are doing okay, but you really aren't, are you? I didn't wanna say a thing, but I don't know, you just seemed stressed out and I was a little worried. Because if you're still hung up on the match, I get it. It was your last match and it was the last match of this team together. And even if I have only known you all for just seven months, I feel like you guys were such a big part of the team. It just feels odd not having you there," Yuki was full-on rambling, tapping her fingers on the closed lid of her lunchbox. "I miss you and the rest of the third years. And..."

      "Yuki..."

       "I really wish the outcome of the match could be changed. I just really wanted us to win and I wanted to go to the nationals with you all. It would have been pretty cool going to the nationals as a first year."

       "Yuki, listen..."

       "I feel like I'm detracting from the matter at hand now, but you should know that I'm here for you if you ever want to talk. And maybe you could be there for me too. That is only if you want to. You don't really..."

       "Yuki!" Iwaizumi spoke more firmly this time, grabbing one of her hands. She immediately paused and looked at him, suddenly blushing.

      "Geez, you can talk a lot. You're just like Oikawa in that way," He said, lightly flicking her forehead. He still hadn't let go of her wrist yet. (he didn't want to.) "But thank you for the offer. When I need someone to talk to, I'll let you know. And you do the same."

      "First of all, don't compare me to Oikawa-senpai. That's rude," Yuki said, looking mildly offended. "No one in the world is as dramatic as him. And secondly, I'll definitely do that."

      In spite of what he was feeling, Iwaizumi started laughing. Unknowingly, he brushed a stray strand of Yuki's hair out of her forehead and behind her.

       Yuki completely froze at the action but managed to steel her nerves at the last second. "Did I say something funny?"

       "Not really. But I just felt like laughing."

      "Iwaizumi-senpai, that's a little mean!"

      "Don't mind me, little Yuki."

     "I'm not little, okay! I'm sixteen! So you better treat me..."

     (Iwaizumi could definitely get used to this.)

JANUARY

(FIVE DAYS BEFORE THE TOKYO UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE EXAM)

      "Misa-chan, take a break," Oikawa said, as he sat next to her, a cup of coffee in his hand. "You've been studying for hours. You need to rest."

      "Give me like five minutes," Misaki said, grabbing the cup of coffee out of his hand. Taking a quick sip, she kept the cup aside. "I'll be right there with you."

      "You said the same thing thirty minutes ago," Oikawa pouted. He had finished going through another round of Spanish lessons early and came to spend time with Misaki, but she wouldn't even look at him. How rude.

      Suddenly, an idea struck his mind and he smirked to himself. 'Misa-chan, you won't be able to escape.'

      Oikawa moved closer to her, their knees brushing against each other. Yet, Misaki didn't even react, concentrating on her maths notes. He shifted a little closer again and still there was no reaction. Taking in a deep breath, he leaned a little, pressing a kiss to the side of her neck. No reaction again, but Misaki's grip on her pencil visibly tightened. She continued to write as Oikawa shifted his position, now hugging her from behind, putting his head on her shoulder.

      But still, Misaki didn't react. At all. He poked her stomach, poked her sides, traced light circles on her arms with his fingers and even blew air into her ears. But she was firm in not reacting and only concentrated on her studying. Oikawa frowned slightly before kissing her neck again, but this time he was a lot more...passionate, so to speak. He sucked and nipped at her neck, hard enough to leave a mark. Misaki dropped her pencil, grabbing at the edge of the kotatsu. "Oh g-god, Oikawa. S-stop."

      Oikawa moved away, covering his mouth to stifle his laughter at her reaction. Finally, she turned around to face him. Sitting cross-legged, she looked at him with a very annoyed glare.

      "You horny little shit," Misaki huffed in anger.

       "Yeah yeah, whatever. Now, kiss me, stupid Misa-chan," Oikawa put his hands on her cheeks, gently stroking them with his fingers.

        "How about I choke you?" Misaki continued to glare at him, but did not push his hands away. "That sound good?"

       "Kinky, but I'm not into that", Oikawa lightly pulled on her cheeks. "Now, come on. You know you want to."

       "Tooru, baby, I love you," Misaki put her hands over, feeling their warmth. "And as much as I want to kiss you, I need to study for the entrance exam otherwise I'll fail. I promised five minutes. I'll be with you in five minutes."

       Unexpectedly, Oikawa pulled his hands away and covered his face.

       "Uhh, what are you doing?" Misaki asked, giving him an odd look.

        "Y-You," Oikawa said, still hiding his face. "You used my first name and called me baby. J-just let me take a moment, okay?"

        Oh.

        Oh.

         Now, Misaki was the one smirking. "Did that get you flustered? Well then..."

          She moved closer to him, close enough that she was practically straddling him. She put her arms around his shoulders and hugged him, laying her head on his chest. Automatically, Oika-Tooru hugged her back.

          "How about now, Tooru?" Misaki drawled, moving her head as she placed a kiss on the side of his jaw. She started giggling as Tooru let out an incomprehensible noise and buried his face into her neck. "Revenge is sweet."

          "Shut up or I'll kiss you," Tooru mumbled against the side of her neck.

          "Then I'm never keeping quiet."

           Of course, studying was completely forgotten after then.

       "You know, I was thinking..." Misaki said as she sat down next to Hanamaki and Matsukawa, in their usual lunch spot, right by the mini-grove of tall trees. The sky was strangely empty and was colored a dull blue.

      "Don't hurt your brain too much," Hanamaki said, without even looking at her. "You need it for the entrance exam."

      Matsukawa immediately covered his mouth, trying (but failing) to stifle his snickers.

      "I hate you both," Misaki glared at the two idiots, before her expression to a normal one. "But anyway, as I was saying, I've been thinking about this for a while. All three of us are going to the University of Tokyo and I'm sure we'll get in. Then we're gonna have to move there. So...I had a thought...why don't three of us room together?"

       "Like share an apartment?" Matsukawa said, a decidedly curious look on his face.

        "Yeah, it would probably be cheaper for us to find an apartment together," Misaki said. "But really, it's just a thought I had last night."

        "Hmm," Hanamaki said. "It's actually not a bad idea. Though if we go through with this, let's keep Misaki away from the kitchen. Eating her cooking will literally kill us."

      "Amen to that," Matsukawa added with a grin.

      "You two are so damn annoying," Misaki shook her head, mildly frustrated. But she couldn't help as a smile soon covered her face. "So are you two up for it? Wanna be roomies for the next few years?"

     "Being roommates with you? That just sounds like a pain," Hanamaki fake groaned. "But I'm in."

      "Yeah, it's not a bad idea," Matsukawa added with a grin. "The three of us together...sounds like it could be fun."

      "Well then, let's see how it goes," Misaki sported a grin of her own. She raised both her hands and the two obliged with very dramatic high-fives.

     It was all going to be good.

Can't believe it took me almost a month to update again, but I'm back to writing. I think the short break I took from writing fault lines really helped and stopped me from getting burnout for this story.

And yup, Misaki, Hanamaki and Matsukawa will be roommates in the future. I can promise you that there will be a lot of chaos lol. 😂😂

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