••• 2028
"Resistance is futile, Iwaizumi Hajime."
Iwaizumi doesn't stop the chuckle from escaping his lips – because there's nothing funnier than seeing the dead-serious Ushiwaka running around playing dress-up with long cloaks and what-not. He fits in really nicely with the concept of rebellious teenagers undergoing their phase of confusion – but of course, there's nothing confused with the other's perpetually-grave expression. No wonder Oikawa had always claimed that the reason he was so serious was because he suffered from constant constipation. No wonder he's working with the Dark King – his gloomy countenance must be a perfect fit to a kingdom that's propagating despair and darkness across the lands.
"…I've gotta say, never thought I'd meet you like this, Ushiwaka."
The communicator in his chest pocket better be working properly. It's a product tweaked by Shimada-san, so there's a good possibility that it's working, but he won't make it past the weird alien powers to affect transmission of electronic signals. Their plan to infiltrate the Tokyo Tower is shoddy at best, but it's not like they're trained in the aspects of strategies and battle. Their not-so-little group is glued together by the fact that they all played in their respective high school volleyball clubs, but their paths after that had pretty much separated. It's a real pity none of them are intellectual geniuses – it should make their task to infiltrate the Dark King's headquarters easier.
"I know you're leading the rebel group."
Ushiwaka looks ridiculous like that – posing menacingly with both hands on his hips – cloak billowing behind his form. He looks like an action figure from a 90s superhero show. Iwaizumi used to enjoy watching those, but he has long grown tired of their predictable story plots, cheesy lines and catchy power-up theme songs. His choices of entertainment had been converted to science documentaries, then to chick flicks and primetime dramas (though he only watched those to placate a whiny Oikawa, not out of his own volition), then to medical textbooks—and of course, being Oikawa's closest friend and unofficial handler has always arrived hand-in-hand with prime-level entertainment.
"Well, if you already know that, then you should also know that it's pointless to capture me."
He walks slowly to the side, circling Ushiwaka carefully. He's not a fan of going to visit the Tokyo Tower before it became like this, so he's not very familiar with its surroundings. Iwaizumi's not sure what the surroundings used to look like, because they're now a messy pile of rubble. His group of rebels is supposed to be taking advantage of the gap in the security and of Ushiwaka's conversation with their leader. Iwaizumi waits for the agreed-upon signal of their successful infiltration. He's never been a fan of Ushiwaka – Oikawa's burning hatred of the guy notwithstanding – for a number of reasons. Thankfully, Iwaizumi's the type of person though who can swallow his personal bias for the bigger picture.
"The Dark King has some business with you."
Iwaizumi chuckles again, because Ushiwaka addressing someone with that kind of deferential tone is hilarious. Who knew that Ushiwaka can be that damn submissive?
"You're the number two and you can't even say his name?"
Ushiwaka's surprise is palpable. Iwaizumi grins as he tests the weight of the sword in his hands, swinging the sword in a huge arc. The shadowy figures surrounding Ushiwaka don't make a move to advance on Iwaizumi nor do they make a move to protect Ushiwaka.
"How did you—"
Shimada-san's communicator falls to the ground from his excessive movement. Shimada-san's communicator gets crushed and sputters uselessly as he makes slow, careful steps to maintain the space between himself and Ushiwaka and his minions.
"There's only one stupid enough to go through all of this."
Thank goodness for that – the world certainly can't handle too many stupid people.
"If you know then—the Dark King—" Ushiwaka draws his gun– it's obvious from the way he hesitates that this is going to be the first time he's actually going to personally threaten someone. It makes perfect sense, because Ushiwaka is a broody man who enjoys cultivating his own vegetable garden on his days off, not an enforcer of an alien-empowered king, not a right-hand man to a spoiled brat driven to madness by the loss of his most important person, certainly not an ambitious knight who will do anything and everything to achieve his goals. He may be the 'young giant', the 'super-ace', the 'super-spiker' but that's just in volleyball.
"Just say that dumbass's name, for fuck's sake."
"So you know—"
"That dumbass Oikawa is the Dark King?" Ushiwaka's honest nod at his words is painful to witness. "Of course. Who do you think I am?"
"If you knew, then you knowingly left your lover all alone?"
Iwaizumi rolls his eyes. He lifts his eyes and sees the signal flare set off from the tenth floor of the Tokyo Tower. Ushiwaka's too preoccupied with judging him and trying to understand him to notice. The robotic, alien, soldiers behind Ushiwaka are frozen in place, watching Iwaizumi and his movements intently instead of paying attention the greenish smoke that's slowly fading away into thin air.
Iwaizumi may be a man who can ignore his personal bias in favor of his mission, but he's relieved that his chat with Ushiwaka is about to be over. He raises his sword, pointing the tip to the dark skies above, to the highest floor of Tokyo Tower where a certain dumbass is looking down at everyone in a futile attempt to widen his range of sight.
"He's not my lover."
He swings his sword down, pointing it to Ushiwaka's chest a few meters away. The alien soldiers look like the normal faces one would see on a standard crowd. They don't react to the hostility directed to Ushiwaka nor do they attempt to subdue Iwaizumi.
"He's my king."
••• 2027
"Stop harassing Oikawa, it's not ever going to work."
Iwaizumi keeps his voice pitched low so that he doesn't wake up the other occupant of this small apartment. There are still a couple of hours until sunrise and until the alarm Iwaizumi has set to go off. He always begins his work in preparing their breakfast early, after all. He closes the fridge with a push of his foot, before he places the egg box on the counter, his phone on the dining table within range of his Bluetooth headset.
Iwaizumi's mother has greatly influenced his early-to-rise habits, because she was always out of the house before the first rays of sunlight even hits their porch.
That's why Iwaizumi always picks this time to talk to her – argue, more like – and also because Oikawa's not a morning person and wouldn't wake up earlier than necessary unless it's for a good reason. Hearing Iwaizumi argue with his mother over him isn't important at all.
"…I don't think you have any room to complain, though?"
He only pays one-fourth of his attention to the steady stream of words from the other line. He focuses more on breaking the eggshells neatly and mixing the ingredients in the bowl effectively. Ever since their trip to Hokkaido years ago, mushroom omelet has climbed up to one of Oikawa's favorite foods (still not enough to beat milk bread, but nothing ever beats that treat in Oikawa's very biased opinion) and it's a meal that Iwaizumi can probably prepare with one eye closed. Nevertheless, he pays a great deal of attention to his cooking, because it's better to do that than listen seriously to his mother's rehashed complaints.
She's hardly satisfied now that she's desperately trying to keep afloat of work when her husband is not present to support her. She's long protested against Iwaizumi's clear wishes to follow Oikawa whenever, wherever, however, to the point that he has foregone taking up a course that will make him more attune with the company their family has been working for, for several generations now, to the point that he has passed on meeting any of the marriage interview candidates that they have scouted for him, in hopes of tying him down to some place they wanted him to be at.
His choice has long been decided.
She's just too dense to understand that there's nothing she – anyone, really, even himself – can do to sway him from his chosen path.
"…my future is going to be with Tooru and there's nothing you can do to convince me otherwise."
He cuts off their connection after his impassioned words. The oil sizzles on the pan and he strains his ears to check if Oikawa has stirred from the other room. He only hears faint snores rising above the sound of his cooking. He smiles faintly at that – he's not sure he can take Oikawa's teasing at this early in the morning, after all.
The smell of the omelet fills the kitchen soon.
Iwaizumi thinks about the future and chuckles.
He can't wait for Oikawa to become king.
••• 2026
"We'll need to do this monthly."
As expected, Oikawa's face falls almost comically, his neatly-plucked eyebrows curving down as he pouts as cutely as he can. "Ehh? But I'm okay now, aren't I?"
"Be thankful that I don't want to do this daily."
"Ehhhh, you're such a worrywart, Iwa-chan."
As per Oikawa's words, he's okay now, so Iwaizumi pinches the skin between the other's right knee-guard and thigh. He ignores the other's squeals about him being a cruel bully who will make Oikawa's legs have blotchy spots.
"What's the use of being the best setter if you can't play, shittykawa?"
"You really need to learn how to compliment me properly, Iwa-chan~"
"Wanna repeat that, dumbass?"
"Ow, ow, ow!"
Oikawa swats his hands away, but not soon enough to prevent him from pinching the other thigh. He would usually headbutt or punch the other, but he's being careful with Oikawa because even if he's okay now, he's in for a check-up because he actually was stupid enough to collapse on the gym after showering after their scheduled practice, then being stupid enough to not call Iwaizumi immediately. While Oikawa's excuse ("But you said that you needed to be on that operation, right? I couldn't disturb you like that, Iwa-chan!") makes sense, it still makes Iwaizumi angry – but never angry enough to not accompany Oikawa and make sure that he actually attends his check-up, scheduled last-minute thanks to Iwaizumi's connections to this hospital.
"Iwa-chan's so mean to me." Oikawa fake-sniffles as he rests his head against Iwaizumi's shoulder as the two of them wait for the definitive results of the X-Rays. "I feel so unloved…"
Iwaizumi rolls his eyes at the other's theatrics. He pats his pants' pockets with his unoccupied left hand, but he doesn't take out his phone because Oikawa's just going to wrestle it away from him so he can send dozens of group mail to everybody in his contacts list. Thankfully, he had already set his phone to silent, no-vibrate mode before he practically wrestled the cab driver to rush to Oikawa's team's gym. His phone is doubtlessly filling up with messages – ranging from his colleagues looking for him after his abrupt disappearance right after the surgery, from his mother who's probably panicking as she calls for an ambulance to bring his father to the ICU immediately after his unfortunate stroke of bad luck.
"But you ran to my rescue right away, just like a knight in shining armor~"
"So you're finally admitting you're a princess?"
"Well, I'm pretty enough for the part…"
"Pfft, says who?"
"Says everyone."
"Better brush up your definition of 'everyone' then."
"Are you saying you disagree, Iwa-chan?!"
"Trash is prettier than you."
"RUDE."
"It's called being honest."
Truthfully, Iwaizumi isn't honest about a lot of things. But he knows that Oikawa knows anyway, especially because Oikawa keeps on leaning his weight against his right side, keeping up his impressive imitation of a leech, minus the blood-sucking.
"…say, did you really run to the gym right after your surgery?"
"I took a cab, dumbass." Iwaizumi made one more stop prior though. "Why do you ask? Are you actually reimbursing me for my cab fare?"
"…it's not a crime to be curious, Iwa-chan."
"Rather, you should start paying me back for the tons of milk bread I bought for you."
"It's not tons, okay. And I thought those were gifts?!"
"You used my wallet to buy most of them, dumbass."
"Are you holding a grudge, Iwa-chan? That's so petty of you! And that's like, years ago!"
"Pfft, so my wallet magically walked to your hands last Saturday when we're doing our groceries?"
"Come on, Iwa-chaaaaan, you earn more than me anyway. Don't be so stingy."
"Excuse you, I do not earn more than you, stupid pretty-boy setter and model."
"Aw, I knew you'd agree I'm pretty!"
"Argh, it was just an expression!"
Oikawa doesn't sit up straighter when the doctor returns with an envelope containing the X-Ray results. This doctor is not someone they've worked with before, but they can't be too choosy since this was a last-minute appointment. Nevertheless, Iwaizumi glares back when the doctor raises an eyebrow pointedly at their too-close positions. Because Oikawa didn't pull away, Iwaizumi didn't make a move to place some distance between their bodies.
"Here are the X-Ray results." Dr. Kayano hands over the results directly to Iwaizumi's outstretched left hand, bypassing the patient despite patient confidentiality. After all, Dr. Kayano is here despite being fully-booked, thanks to the quintuple fee that Iwaizumi has handed over half an hour ago. "It will be best if Oikawa-san rests for a week to not strain his knee further."
Iwaizumi lets his right hand travel from Oikawa's lap to envelop Oikawa's shoulders, then pinches the other's right arm warningly. He would glare at Oikawa to make him understand that doctor's orders are absolute, which means no sneaking around to practice, but he knows that Oikawa will be avoiding his eyes and fluttering his eyelashes at the doctor instead in an effort to dispel the tension in the room.
Dr. Kayano's eyebrows stay raised at their closeness, even as she completes the transaction for the evening. "Also, I heard that Iwaizumi-sama has been rushed to the East Tokyo Medical Institute. He's always had a clean bill of health – such bad luck, to have a stroke at this point."
Oikawa stiffens from his side and Iwaizumi sighs at this doctor's big mouth. Iwaizumi makes a mental note to never ask for this doctor ever again.
"Your father—"
"…is going to be fine, because he knows how to follow a doctor's orders, unlike you, dumbass."
"Did you know—"
"I did, but my mother's there to bring him to the hospital anyway."
"Iwa-chan—"
"Let's go home, shittykawa."
If Dr. Kayano has anything to say about Iwaizumi's blatant disregard for his family and even more blatant favoritism towards the man beside him, well, that's just too bad then. Iwaizumi's not about to listen to anyone aside from himself and Oikawa.
••• 2025
"Ugh, my ears are still ringing…"
"Ahahaha, that's okay, Iwa-chan, I know you're not used to people being happy at the sight of you—hey, no, my hair!"
"You're spouting off more shit than usual, huh?"
"Hmph, you're just jealous you don't have an official fan club~"
"I feel like I should remind you that this 'fan club' of yours was organized by your team? To help them get sponsors?"
"A fan club is a fan club, Iwa-chan. Not that you know anything about that…"
"Pfft, you're really full of shit."
"Iwa-chaaaan, if you want to get mauled by my fans, it's your funeral, okay? I'm not saving you!"
"And will they do to me? Shriek at me until I apologize to your sorry ass?"
Oikawa has the gall to laugh at him, right before throwing a used sock to his face. "Probably~ "
Iwaizumi balls up the sock and throws it back with double the force, hitting Oikawa square at the spot between his eyebrows. "…That does sound like an extreme punishment."
"See? So you should be nicer to Oikawa-san~~~"
"Nah, it just means that they don't need to hear your screams when I do this…"
"Just so you know, I'm a pure-hearted pacifist—eep, Iwa-chan, no, so unfair, I give, I give—eeep, let go!"
Iwaizumi balances his weight so that he doesn't end up sitting directly on Oikawa's legs – not because he doesn't to crush the other under his weight and also not because he's body shy, because Oikawa's legs are definitely not as smooth as he claims, but because he doesn't want to give Oikawa an excuse to shift the blame of his sprains to him instead of his inability to understand what a strict practice quota means. He drums his fingers against the exposed skin on Oikawa's belly – his Team Japan jersey has ridden up from his constant wriggling, allowing Iwaizumi easy access to tickle the hell out of him.
"You're loud as always."
"Well maybe you shouldn't bully me so much then?"
"Pfft, if you think this is bullying… I wonder what will you do if I—"
"Hey, Iwa-chan, that's very unfair!"
"You're the one who threw your smelly sock away, dumbass."
"It wasn't smelly, Iwa-chan! My sweat is made of pure tears of a virgin angel, okay?"
"What the fuck are you even saying, you idiot. That angel is probably crying from your bullshit."
"So not true, Iwa-chan!"
"And stop distracting me—"
"Okay, okay! I'm sorry! Just don't—"
"Too late—"
"Eeeek—!"
Oikawa finally rolls out from underneath him, but since he's still perched above the wriggling, ticklish setter, Iwaizumi also ends up rolling off the bed.
"Ow, that hurts… you okay, Iwa-chan?"
"You're getting heavy."
"Hmph, see if I ever worry about you, ever."
"You should cut down on your milk bread."
"Hey! Leave my beloved milk bread alone, Iwa-chan."
"If you keep this up, you'll be too heavy to do your jump serve, dumbass."
"Don't jinx it!"
Oikawa starts tapping his fingers against Iwaizumi's stomach – in a poor imitation of the tickle attack that Iwaizumi launched earlier – just as he sobers down from his giggling at Iwaizumi's teasing over his weight.
"Mmm, I guess it's just us then, even if you're a meanie."
Iwaizumi sighs as Oikawa tries and fails to tickle him back, as Oikawa tries and fails to keep the sadness away from his voice.
"It's an important business trip." Iwaizumi knows that having work as a reason will not make Oikawa's sadness flee, but it's the only one he has right now.
"Is that what they told you when you accompanied them to the airport?"
"It's the truth." Iwaizumi lets his hands encircle Oikawa, trapped as he is between the hotel's carpeted-but-still-uncomfortably-hard floor and the honed muscles of Oikawa's body. "Don't tell me you're going to summon crybabykawa?"
"That's such a bad name, Iwa-chan."
"Well, it suits you perfectly then."
"MEANIE."
The two of them stay there, on the hotel floor, while Oikawa's fan event clean-up is ongoing a couple of floors below, while Oikawa's parents make their way to a far-off country thousands of kilometers away from where their son is busy trying to pursue his dreams.
Iwaizumi usually hates prolonged close contact, but Oikawa has always been an exception to everything, so he sighs again as the two of them stay together, locked in each other's arms.
••• 2024
"Wow, so Iwa-chan can really be a gentleman if he tries!"
"Just because I brought you to a fancy restaurant doesn't make me a gentleman."
"True—it just makes you a rich guy, huh?"
"You know how my aunt likes to give me more spending money than I care for."
"Mmm, is auntie doing well?"
"As well as she can, I guess."
There are a lot of factory leaks happening all over the world right now, giving more work to his aunt as a quality inspector for buildings. She's been swamped with work recently, but it's the type of bad luck that has a silver lining, because it only means that there's more money pouring into her bank account than she can possibly spend in her lifetime. She's been really generous recently and almost as though to compensate for the lack of presence of the elder Iwaizumi adults in Iwaizumi's life, she has been sending more and more to Iwaizumi's account.
Iwaizumi's been spending most of his spare funds to buy shit for Oikawa ever since he can remember, so it's natural that he doesn't even think twice about booking a reservation at one of the most sought-after restaurants in the city to celebrate Oikawa's third straight year of being selected as part of the national team.
"Ahh, if Iwa-chan gave me heads-up that we'll be going to The Enamel, I would have dressed nicer!"
"Okay—you can go back to our apartment and change. I'll stay here and eat."
"So cruel! You want me to go back in the rush-hour traffic and miss our reservation?!"
"Well, you wanted to dress nicer, didn't you?"
"Ugh, you're being so mean recently… are they treating you right at medical school?"
Iwaizumi rolls his eyes as Oikawa practically skips towards the private room he has booked. "It's been a busy couple of days."
"Mm, I could see—your eyebags really need a concealer stick or two."
"If I wake up tomorrow with make-up on my face, I'm gonna headbutt you."
"Ehh—but you need to look more presentable!"
"I don't need to look nice for our lessons with cadavers tomorrow, shittykawa."
"Ewwww, be careful that you don't mess with any zombies, okay, Iwa-chan?"
"You're seriously worried about me?"
"Of course! If you get turned to a zombie, you're going to look a million times uglier!"
"That's your main concern?"
"Should I be worried about something else?"
"If I find any zombies there and if I get turned to a zombie, I will make sure to bite you."
"I thought we're friends, Iwa-chan!? How can you do that to this lovely Oikawa-san?!"
"I'm pretty sure zombies don't care about friendships."
"But I'm too pretty to be undead!"
"…that's really your main concern?"
"Plus, if I become a zombie, I'm in big trouble if that shrimp of Tobio-chan's drives his sucky serve to the back of my head! It will be an instant K.O.!"
"…there won't be any zombies there, shittykawa."
"I knooooow, but be careful still, okay? You can't afford to be uglier than you are, Iwa-chan."
"Ah! I'm kidding, Iwa-chan—well, not so much—but if you keep on bottling up your anger, you're gonna explode, you know? But don't explode on me, Iwa-chan!"
••• 2023
"Ughhh, Tobio-chan's really annoying…"
"You don't have the right to call anyone annoying, dumbass."
"I have the right to call anyone I want 'annoying' if they're being annoying, Iwa-chan…"
Iwaizumi leans against tub, his right hand rubbing lazy circles on Oikawa's palm as the other distracts himself with his therapeutic bubble bath instead of focusing on his loss against the formidable combination of Kageyama and Hinata. Oikawa's entire body and half his face is submerged in the bubbles as he contemplates about countless ways the match could have gone, despite the fact that it's just a practice match that's meant to be more of an exhibition than a serious one.
And because Oikawa's too distracted by his own thoughts, he doesn't have the energy to invade Iwaizumi's privacy and look into his phone as he deftly texts both Matsukawa and Hanamaki about Oikawa taking the day off tomorrow. Iwaizumi can't even begin to feel thankful enough that there was enough foresight to have Matsukawa and Hanamaki as assistant coaches on the same team that's Oikawa's in. At the very least, there are two more pairs of eyes that can alert him if Oikawa does something stupider than usual.
Oikawa makes another splash – displacing the fragrant water and making it spill to the floor – making Iwaizumi's dress shirt and pants wet. He considers peeling off his clothes and taking a bath if he's going to be drenched anyway, but Oikawa's taking his time submerging himself in his frustrated thoughts and in the bubble bath, just as he keeps a vice-like grip on Iwaizumi's right hand.
Iwaizumi sighs as he thinks of the sleepless night ahead, probably going to be spent calming Oikawa down and making him realize – again – that he's the best, that he's powerful in his own right, and that no matter what anyone says, no matter what happens, he's going to end up reigning as king.
With another deep sigh (and another splash from a petulant Oikawa), Iwaizumi texts his own boss and tells him that he'll be taking a sick day off tomorrow too.
••• 2022
"I knew you could do it."
"Ehehe, thank you, Iwa-chan!"
Oikawa's smile is bright– brighter than the neon lights of the stadium – as he pulls back from the glomp he has Iwaizumi embraced in. Oikawa doesn't let go of Iwaizumi entirely as he laughs in elation – thoughts of being on the same national team as Ushiwaka-chan don't even cross his mind, because all he's focusing on now is that he made it to the professional national team.
"Of course, it would have been better if we both got into the team, Iwa-chan~"
"Pfft, I haven't played volleyball seriously in years."
"Still—!"
"Just enjoy your moment, Oikawa."
"Ehehe, thanks again!"
Iwaizumi's a bit sad that he can't play on the same team as Oikawa, but that's part of his choice from long ago. After all, if he can't support Oikawa on the volleyball court, he'll just have to be a proper pillar everywhere else.
••• 2021
"Isn't it great, Iwa-chan?!"
"It is."
Iwaizumi laughs at Oikawa's flabbergasted face, because he very rarely agrees verbally and so openly with the other.
"You should be glad I'm in a great mood, Iwa-chan, or else—"
"…or else you'll cry at me?"
"Hmph, I'm not a crybaby anymore!"
"Says the guy who can't even wipe his snot properly."
"I'm just so happy! These are tears of happiness."
"Crybaby."
"I'm just so happy! Mattsun and Makki-chan will also be with me! Isn't it great?!"
"They can keep an eye on you to stop your stupid antics."
"What stupid antics are you talking about, Iwa-chan?" Oikawa blinks slowly, emphasizing his wide eyes to put forth a look of pure innocence. Knowing Oikawa for just a few minutes should be enough to clue one in that there's nothing purely innocent about the other, so Iwaizumi only scoffs at the other's acting.
"Let's see—how about that time you snuck in and added hair dye to the shower water so that it will look like there's a rain of blood?"
"That's for a dare, Iwa-chan!"
"Hmm, or the time you scaled a wall to peek into Shiratorizawa's practice?"
"That's for a greater purpose!"
"Or the time when you were so sleepy you tried to eat your sneakers?"
"That was one time!" Oikawa pouts as he protests futilely. "And that was like, fifty years ago."
"Are you sure you graduated college with that level of math?"
"RUDE."
Oikawa keeps close to Iwaizumi, babbling a hundred words a minute, still in his high at being picked for one of the best volleyball teams in the country, unmindful of anything else that he doesn't notice Iwaizumi texting with his left hand when he would normally steal the other's phone then send a dozen of selfies and random nonsense to everyone in the contacts list. Oikawa continues half-laughing, half-storytelling, that he doesn't even get a chance to read Iwaizumi's text of thanks to his new coach, nor does he get a chance to see his new coach's reply to the favor asked of him with the cost of two million yen – one for each of the assistant coaches that are added to the team.
Most people don't have two million yen just lying around, but then again most people don't need to keep an eye on a childhood friend who has a penchant for doing stupid, worrying, heart-stopping things.
Two million yen is nothing to him, when he compares it against the person who still hasn't run out of words to say beside him.
••• 2020
"I'm glad he finally stopped stalking me…"
Iwaizumi watches Oikawa wince as he carries a particularly heavy box. More muscle training or not, Oikawa's still got a long way to go until he can reach the level of strength of Iwaizumi's arm-wrestling-invincible-biceps. "I'm telling you, it's better if we also filed a police report."
"Nah, he's not even around anymore…"
"But you can never be too sure, you idiot."
"You're really such a worrywart, Iwa-chan. You'll make for a perfect housewife."
"How is that even related?" Iwaizumi's unfortunately too used to Oikawa's faulty logic that he tries to pass off as worldly wisdom. "And stop dawdling—there are still twenty boxes that we need to move."
"Uhhhh, I'm tired, Iwa-chan~~~"
"Who asked you to pack this many shit anyway?" Iwaizumi's own things managed to fit in two boxes, while Oikawa's number more than thirty.
"Aw, Iwa-chan, I should really buy more clothes for you, expand your wardrobe a little bit."
"No thanks."
"You always say that, but you always wear the clothes I buy anyway."
"That's only because you keep on hiding or throwing away my other clothes."
"Well, that's true, but it's the thought that counts!"
"And what thought is that exactly? That you like to steal my clothes?"
"Throw, Iwa-chan—I'm not going to steal your clothes and use them, ew."
"Oh yeah? Kindly explain why you keep on wearing my sweatshirt then?"
"It's comfy!"
Iwaizumi rolls his eyes – he would have thrown his hands up in defeat, but his hands are full and even his arm-wrestling-honed biceps are not strong enough to simply throw this box up, unless he wanted an accident on their first day in their new apartment.
"I hope I don't get any more creepy stalkers here…"
"Pfft, I made sure of that."
"Ehh, that sounds kind of cool, Iwa-chan?"
"I had security cameras installed," Iwaizumi explains as he points to the discreetly hidden security cameras by the foyer. He doesn't explain further nor does he attempt to point further out their new apartment, because he knows that Oikawa instinctively understands what he means anyway.
"Kuh, you're always acting so cool, Iwa-chan, it's so unfair."
"I only appear cool because you're a dumbass."
"I'm not!"
"Dumbasskawa."
"Hey!"
Iwaizumi grins as Oikawa flails about while he tries to balance the box filled with his clothes. There are some times that he can't quite believe that a person such as Oikawa exists – stupid, flaky, crybaby, alien-loving dumbass. But then again, that only makes it more important that he makes sure that no creepy stalkers enter their world.
Iwaizumi makes a show of sighing deeply as he sits down on their new couch and watches Oikawa haul his things properly. He resolves to enjoy his few minutes of rest, because Oikawa will undoubtedly soon pout at him and whine his ears off to help him with carrying his boxes.
Iwaizumi really can't believe sometimes how someone like Oikawa will become king.
••• 2019
"…I can't believe that they're actually so jealous that they'll resort to that…"
"Don't mind them," Iwaizumi advises, placing a comforting hand around Oikawa's shaking shoulders, "they're going to be expelled, aren't they?"
"I know… but I didn't sense their intent at all, Iwa-chan." Oikawa's voice is strained as his fists tremble in his lap. Iwaizumi reaches out with his left hand and tries to cover both of Oikawa's knuckles. "To think that we played on the same team with them for a year…"
"You're a setter, not a detective."
"You're right, Iwa-chan… ugh, for once…"
"What do you mean, 'for once'?!"
As expected, Oikawa's overwhelming talent and charm managed to land him an easy place in the regular lineup even in his freshman year. But freshmen regulars ted to attract ire and jealousy from others – and a magnetic, polarizing person like Oikawa lures those types of people frighteningly without any trouble at all.
Iwaizumi's not on the volleyball team anymore – there's no time for that when he's taking an accelerated medical program – but he can still support Oikawa by being there when he's needed (which is admittedly, practically all of the time).
Iwaizumi's fist burns as Oikawa continues trembling in a mix of shock and disappointment at himself for not being able to read his teammates perfectly.
Iwaizumi swears to himself to not let something like this happen ever again.
After all, what kind of knight allows his king to be troubled by such unimportant trivialities?
••• 2018
"You're practicing late again, dumbass."
Iwaizumi slams the door the gym open, startling the troublemaker still practicing serves, like he has never learned anything from his injuries last month. This is what Iwaizumi didn't want to happen – the moment that he had to retire from the team, Oikawa will be back to his wayward ways of overwhelming his own limits at the expense of his body.
"I-I-Iwa-chan?"
Iwaizumi doesn't spare any words explaining how he got the keys and how he learned from the coach that Oikawa's been doing this recently ever since he retired from the team to focus on his almost-mandatory all-nighters for his labs.
"We're going home, Oikawa."
Iwaizumi doesn't wait for the dumbass to realize that he's being manhandled into going back to their student apartment instead of finishing whatever his hellish personal target for the day is.
"…I'm sorry, Iwa-chan."
Iwaizumi understands that Oikawa's panicking again because he's not sure if he can keep on trying to win against Ushiwaka now that his ace spiker isn't with him. Iwaizumi understands Oikawa too well for him to feign ignorance to the other's anxiety. Iwaizumi understands that the best way to solve this will be to drill into Oikawa's head that he's the best and he's going to reign supreme over everybody – maybe not tomorrow, not next year, but certainly soon.
••• 2017
"Wow, this is really big!"
Tired from the long day, Iwaizumi doesn't reply but he does take in the huge space in front of him – the student apartment that will be their home for the next couple of years.
"Hmm, we're lucky, huh? There's supposed to be four people sharing this, but apparently they've backed out? Awesome, isn't it, Iwa-chan!"
"You have so much energy," Iwaizumi comments idly, as he stretches out on the single bed that he has claimed as his for the time being. It's been a long and busy day for him, securing this apartment for them, so he can't summon the same level of enthusiasm as Oikawa's.
Oikawa's pretty good at sensing his moods though, so he sobers up and mischievously grins at him before launching himself at him, earning a pained grunt and a noogie for his efforts of disturbing the resting Iwaizumi.
"We'll beat Ushiwaka-chan and Tobio-chan and everyone else in this college, Iwa-chan."
"Yeah, yeah," Iwaizumi noncommittally grunts, though he knows that Oikawa will understand that it's only his tiredness that's making him sound dispirited about the prospect of finally avenging themselves against Ushiwaka.
Iwaizumi can almost taste victory.
He knows it's not going to be tomorrow or the day after, but he can almost taste the future of when Oikawa will become king.
He allows Oikawa to cuddle into him for their first night away from home – bops Oikawa on the head when he wriggles too much – hits Oikawa on the stomach on the morning after for forgetting to set the alarm like he had promised during their bus ride before.
Iwaizumi can't wait for Oikawa to become king.
••• 2016
••• 2015
••• 2014
••• 2013
••• 2012
••• 2011
••• 2010
••• 2009
••• 2008
All ages – all years – all moments:
Iwaizumi will make Oikawa into king.
••• 2007
"I have a biiiig secret to tell you, Iwa-chan!"
"Promise not to tell anyone?"
"And who will I tell?"
"Good point. Meanie Iwa-chan doesn't have any other friends except for me, after all!"
"Just get to the point, idiot."
"…I saw an alien."
"That's your big secret?"
"It's awesome, isn't it?"
"It's dumb. Dumbass Oikawa."
"H-H-Hey!"
"Aliens don't exist."
"They do too! If not, then how did they know how aliens look like?"
"It's all imagination, idiot. All made-up. You should have listened to Yoshida-sensei better."
"Egh, but Yoshida-sensei is too wrinkly! And he speaks toooo slowly!"
"At least he knows that aliens don't exist."
"They do! I saw one on my way back from the convenience store earlier today."
"Did you sneak out to buy more milk bread again?"
"That's not the point!"
"I really did see an alien!"
"Yeah, yeah."
"It even waved at me!"
"You probably tried to flirt with random strangers."
"I did not!"
••• 2007
Iwaizumi Hajime has a secret.
It's not a really big secret.
It's not that he's in love with Oikawa Tooru.
For one, he's too young to think of things like that seriously.
Also, he suspects it's too obvious anyway to qualify as a secret.
So that's not his secret.
He has a secret that he doesn't think he can share with anyone – not even Oikawa – despite their pinky swear that they'll share anything and everything with each other.
But then again, he's not keeping it a secret because he doesn't want Oikawa to know.
He's keeping it a secret because it will be better for Oikawa if he doesn't know anything about it.
It's not really a big secret.
It's just that—
An alien has landed on the forests behind his house the other week.
It didn't have a huge UFO or anything like that.
It started off looking like slime, but the moment Iwaizumi touched it, it took his form, looking like his mirror image.
It's not really the part that he wants to keep a secret.
The alien had asked him what he wanted in exchange for saving its life.
He only had one answer.
He suspects that if asked in the future, in any other time, in any other universe, he'll always have the same answer.
—I want you to make Oikawa king—
That's not really a secret.
The alien had then looked at him with a mean, cruel glint in its eyes, before saying that it's too great of a wish in exchange of having its life saved.
—What else do you need to make Oikawa king?—
That's not really a secret.
But the alien had finally looked at him with pity in its eyes, before saying that it would require the world to be ruined.
Iwaizumi Hajime has a secret.
—Then we have a deal.—
••• 2007 (side b)
"I told you to not leave, didn't I?!"
"I—wanted—to—see—"
"Oikawa saw you!"
"You—dare—to—raise—your—voice—to—me—human?"
"We had a deal."
"I—wanted—to—see—for—myself—the—one—who—will—be—king."
"That's not a part of our deal, is it?"
"You—expect—me—to—wait—for—years—doing—nothing?"
"I thought years are nothing to your kind? I expect you to follow our deal. I'm following my end, after all."
"You're—an—arrogant—human—Iwaizumi—Hajime."
"Hmph. I'll do my part and all you'll need to do is make Oikawa the king."
"You—value—that—human—so—much—I—don't—understand—why. Why—make—him—to—a—king?"
"Because that's what he wants."
"That's—it? You'll—ruin—this—world—for—that?"
"Of course… I am his knight, after all."
••• [the world without order] •••
••• END: "the world without order", part three of the "the world without" series •••
••• NEXT: "the world without you" •••