Practice had been grueling. Coach had been in a bad mood, and had the whole team doing suicide runs for what seemed like eternity. The first years had more difficulty than usual with practically everything, asking the third years for help over and over. Seemingly everyone had exams before, and everyone had just been completely wiped out energy wise.
"I never want to play volleyball again, that was misery," Oikawa whined as he, Iwaizumi, Matsukawa, and Hanamaki walked to the local store down the street.
"Yahaba asked me to spike for him at least 40 times in a row before I dragged him over to Kyoutani," Iwaizumi sighed.
"I had to help Kindaichi with blocks for what seems like forever," Matsukawa commiserated, though Matsukawa's real struggle had been not staring at Hanamaki in his volleyball shorts. They had apparently shrunk in the wash and Hanamaki was still wearing them to practice and it was absolute torture. Matsukawa decided to keep this particular thought to himself.
Hanamaki stayed quiet, content to just listen to his friends complain until they arrived at the shop.
They played a half-hearted game of rock-paper-scissors to decide who had to go in. Iwaizumi lost, but Oikawa volunteered to go in with him.
"Mattsun, hold me," Hanamaki whined. Matsukawa obliged accordingly, wrapping long arms around the other boy and hugging him close. Hanamaki grinned and leaned all his bodyweight on Matsukawa, who shifted his own weight in order to keep the two standing up.
"Brat," Matsukawa fondly said.
"You love me anyways," Hanamaki hummed and tried to lean even harder and topple them over. Matsukawa just rolled his eyes and slid his foot outward to steady himself. Eventually Hanamaki straightened up so Matsukawa didn't have to strain himself carrying both their weight. Matsukawa still draped himself over the back of his best friend as payback.
Hanamaki felt nice, Matsukawa mused. The strawberry brunette felt warm and solid underneath his own body. Hanamaki was a bit leaner, a bit shorter, and all in all slotted against Matsukawa's body just perfectly. Matsukawa hugged Hanamaki a bit tighter. He didn't want to let go.
"Gay," Iwaizumi commented as he walked out of the store.
"Losers," Oikawa sniggered.
"I don't want to hear that from you," Hanamaki retorted, sticking his tongue out.
"You're just jealous you're not as talented or pretty as me, Makki," Oikawa sniffed as he unwrapped his milkbread. "Iwa-chan, back me up."
"You're just jealous you're not as annoying or overly dramatic as Oikawa," Iwaizumi dutifully replied, completely deadpan.
"Iwa-chaaaaaan, how can you betray me like this?!" Oikawa cried, throwing himself at Iwaizumi as Hanamaki snickered at the idiotic duo.
Friendship was nice, Matsukawa thought to himself, before joining in the fray to poke fun at Oikawa and Iwaizumi.
A few hours later, Iwaizumi and Oikawa had gone off to Oikawa's house and Hanamaki and Matsukawa were walking to the latter's house. Without their captain and vice-captain, the two walked in companionable silence.
The trees were green. The sky was blue. Hanamaki Takahiro's eyes were pretty. These were all things that Matsukawa observed and thought about until they reached his door.
"I'm home!" Matsukawa called out.
"Welcome home!" Himeko, his mother, replied. There was a quiet patter of footsteps and then the woman herself walked out, smiling at the two boys. "Makki! So glad to see you, it's been forever since you came by!"
"He was over yesterday," Matsukawa reminded her.
"Hello, I'm glad to see you, Matsukawa-san," Hanamaki smiled back at his friend's mother. Matsukawa let the two exchange pleasantries and walked into the kitchen to see a bowl of cream puffs sitting on the counter. Hanamaki was truly his mother's favorite.
"Hey, you wanna go up to your roo- Are those cream puffs?" Hanamaki's eyes widened in delight and Matsukawa smiled at the sight.
"Eat them downstairs, Makki," Matsukawa's mother said, trailing after the lanky boy with a warm smile.
"Ugh, you don't deserve such a wonderful mother, Mattsun," Hanamaki exclaimed. Matsukawa just rolled his eyes and followed his best friend to the table.
When they finished eating, the two went to Matsukawa's room and pulled out their homework.
They worked and studied for hours, until Himeko called them down for supper. Matsukawa's father had come home while the two had been studying, so the four of them sat at the table engaging in small talk and eating.
Tonight's consisted of the usual miso soup and steamed rice as well as grilled mackerel, grilled shrimp, green bean shiraae, and salad. It wasn't overly lavish, but there was enough food on the table to feed a small army.
"Eat up, Makki. Issei, are you making sure he eats enough at school?" Himeko smiled fondly at the two teenagers, managing to inject affection, concern, and faux irritation into her voice all at the same time. Hanamaki ducked his head with a slight blush. Matsukawa's mother was almost overbearing with her love and made no effort to hide how much she cared for her son's best friend.
"I hand feed him every break and lunch to properly nourish his body and soul," Matsukawa replied somberly and set down his chopsticks to ruffle Hanamaki's hair.
"Are you my mother, Matsu-chan?" Hanamaki tilted his head to the side innocently, mimicking their captain. Matsukawa tried his best to imitate Iwaizumi's death ray glare while his parents just shook their heads, laughing.
Every time that Hanamaki came over, Matsukawa's mother went to lengths to make a hearty meal because Hanamaki's parents usually worked late, so the boy didn't eat a lot of home cooked meals. Himeko also thought he was too thin for his height.
Matsukawa knew that if she could, his mother would make his best friend come over to eat every night to make sure he was properly fed. Matsukawa himself knew that if he could, he'd make Hanamaki come over every night as well.
"Thank you for the food!" Hanamaki exclaimed, stuffed and content.
"You sure you ate enough, Makki?" Matsukawa's mother fretted.
"I think I ate too much, honestly. Do you need help with the dishes?"
"Thanks for offering, dear, but I'm fine," Himeko smiled, endeared by the offer, and shooed the two away.
The boys again returned to Matsukawa's room. Their homework was done and they had studied for their upcoming tests. Matsukawa didn't want Hanamaki to go home.
"Stay the night, it's late anyways," Matsukawa said.
"Course," Hanamaki grinned before flopping down on the taller one's bed. "How else would I enjoy your amazing bed?"
"I knew it, you're just using me for my mattress!"
"Don't be ridiculous, Mattsun. I'm also using you for your soft sheets."
"You're ridiculous," Matsukawa snorted and then grabbed his laptop. "Scoot over and let's watch a movie."
"You're ridiculouser," Hanamaki playfully pouted before scooting closer to cuddle up to Matsukawa to watch the movie. Matsukawa found himself wrapping his left arm around the other's shoulders before setting up the movie and pressing play.
Once the movie was over, Matsukawa stood up and placed his laptop back on his desk and then shuffled to the bathroom. He used the toilet, brushed his teeth, and then took a shower. He then returned to his room with nothing but a towel slung low on his hips and walked to his closet to retrieve a pair of boxers.
"Five out of ten, Mattsun!" Hanamaki called out.
"That low?" Matsukawa turned around to grin and flex.
"I'm rating you on your strip tease, not your actual body, Mattsun. You know you're always a ten for me, babe," Hanamaki licked his lips and wiggled his eyebrows.
"Don't you think I'd have to actually strip for it to be a strip tease? I'm surprised I got points at all," Matsukawa chuckled.
"I gave you a five point boost on your body alone," Hanamaki leered.
"What would I have to do to get the other five points?"
"I think you already know the answer to that," Hanamaki raised his eyebrows expectantly. It felt like a dare. Matsukawa spent all of two seconds to think of reasons why he shouldn't before whipping his towel off with a flourish and shimmying his hips.
Hanamaki let out a loud whoop and then bent down to retrieve his wallet so he could throw bills at the tall, black-haired boy. Matsukawa went along with it for a couple of minutes, strutting up and down his room and striking poses before he slid on his boxers and bent to retrieve the fallen money.
Hanamaki took that as his cue to get up and go to the bathroom himself. When he came back, Matsukawa was lying in bed. Hanamaki paused dramatically in front of the closed door. His hair was ruffled from the towel and there were a few droplets of water sliding down his chest.
Hanamaki started slowly walking to Matsukawa's closet, swaying his hips to an invisible beat.
"Makki, Makki, Makki!" Matsukawa cheered from his bed, enjoying the show. The chant gave Hanamaki the push to slide his towel off and begin dancing in the middle of the room. His body was much leaner and willowy than Matsukawa's, and every movement looked graceful.
Hanamaki was beautiful, Matsukawa thought. Well, he always has been. Even with his limp dick swirling around in the air like a demon possessed rope.
Hanamaki eventually grabbed a pair of Matsukawa's boxers and tugged them on before turning off the light and slipping into bed beside the other boy. Matsukawa wondered if this was normal. If best friends generally shared clothes, even underwear. If best friends gave each other strip shows. Probably not.
However, when Hanamaki rolled onto his side and shifted until he was pressed right against Matsukawa, prompting the boy to turn and wrap his arm around the strawberry-brunette's warm and pliant body, Matsukawa found he didn't really care.
"I think the burger place is twenty percent off today, Mattsun."
Matsukawa woke up to Hanamaki's expectant face hovering right over his, breathing minty fresh breath over it while the rest of the lanky teen's body caged him in.
"Good morning to you too," Matsukawa mumbled before reaching up to hug Hanamaki down. Hanamaki laughed and returned the hug, rolling the two around a little on the bed. Matsukawa broke from the embrace first, standing up to go wash up and get dressed.
Once ready, the two trooped downstairs for breakfast. Matsukawa's father had already left for work, but his mother stood in the kitchen humming while she prepared breakfast. The two greeted her and went to sit down at the table and wait for the food to be done.
Himeko didn't skimp on the breakfast either. She brought back dishes, one by one, refusing help from the two teenagers as she set down miso soup, rice, tamagoyaki, natto, grilled salmon, dried seaweed sheets, and fried cabbage.
"So much food, Himeko-san! It looks delicious, let's eat!" Hanamaki enthusiastically praised the woman, who grinned with proud delight in return. It made something inside Matsukawa warm to know that Hanamaki and his mother got along so well.
Well, obviously they got along well. It'd been three years of best-friendship and frequent visits. It'd be weird if they didn't get along by now. Matsukawa still thought it was nice, regardless.
When they had finished eating, they went back to Matsukawa's room to plan out the rest of their day.
"Mm, well Oikawa and Iwaizumi are going to buy sneakers and get ramen later," Hanamaki reported after checking his phone.
"How later is later?"
"Six later."
"My mom planned on making tonkatsu and curry for dinner," Matsukawa said and Hanamaki bit his lip. Hanamaki hated to miss out on Himeko's cooking.
"We should let the two idiots have a nice date alone anyways," Hanamaki finally said with a little sniff.
"Well it'll be nice for us to have our own date, right?" Matsukawa grinned and Hanamaki smirked in agreement. After about half an hour of discussion and online searching, the pair discovered that couples got a nice fifteen percent discount at the aquarium.
"So, aquarium, burger place, and then we could go grab some drinks or something and sit at the park?" Matsukawa looked to Hanamaki to make sure they were on the same page, plans-wise and received an assenting nod. The two gathered up their stuff and headed to the train stop.
The morning rush to work and cram school was over by then, but the train was still packed full with teenagers with free time and the two teenagers found themselves squished somewhere next to the wall.
"Hey Mattsun, if I were being groped, would you rescue me?" Hanamaki looked up, widening his eyes in some poor mimicry of innocence. Matsukawa snorted.
"What are you, a schoolgirl?"
"I'll have you know that cute schoolboys are totally groped on trains!"
"You read too much manga, you dope."
"So you wouldn't rescue me?"
"I never said that."
"Thanks babe."
"Anything for you, honeybee."
The other passengers surrounding the two gave them strange looks, but Hanamaki had already wrapped his arms around Matsukawa for a hug. When the two prepared to return to their separate standing space, the other people had already filled up the centimeters of space. Matsukawa found himself holding onto Hanamaki until they came to their stop and had to shove their way out.
The heat of Hanamaki's body lingers for almost ten whole minutes even after they exit the train.
The pair manage to get to the aquarium without a hitch. Matsukawa pays for Hanamaki, even as the other one protests and tries to pay him back. Matsukawa just tells him to pay for lunch. There's a new jellyfish exhibit, and all the fish are beautiful.
Matsukawa can't help but think that Hanamaki Takahiro is more beautiful.
He wouldn't call himself a romantic. He really wouldn't. He, along with Hanamaki, is the ultimate trashmaster meme disaster. Romantic is maybe one of the last words he would associate with himself. He might be lying to himself.
Because, when Hanamaki is staring at the huge, breathtaking tank filled with seven different, exotic fish groups and sharks- when Hanamaki is standing in front of a dazzling, sparkling blue backdrop with gorgeous fish and impressive sharks swimming about- all Matsukawa Issei can think is that Hanamaki Takahiro might be the most fascinating thing in the world.
It's kind of painful to think about. Looking at his stupid, dorky haircut he's apparently had since he grew enough hair and looking at his dopey, slanted eyes and that dumbass smirk- Matsukawa just wants to kiss him.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Hanamaki interrupted the taller teen's thoughts.
"You know, there was a nice mood there and you ruined it," Matsukawa sighed.
"What mood? You were just staring at me with eyes glazed over enough to rival one of these fishes."
"Fuck you."
"You wish," Hanamaki harrumphed but smiled anyways.
Matsukawa felt his cheeks heat up a bit, but he still managed to choke out a nromal enough sounding, "Always do, babe."
"Maybe someday I'll let you," Hanamaki absently replied and Matsukawa felt the blood rush to his head. The darker haired boy stood there, completely silent, as he tried to repress a squeak or any sort of noise that would give him away. The lack of audible response was a dead giveaway on its own though, and Hanamaki had always been able to see through his best friend.
"You ok, Mattsun?"
"Do you like girls?" Matsukawa blurted out. Silence. Hanamaki raised an eyebrow incredulously.
"What?"
"Uh."
"Uh."
The two teenagers stood there, staring at the other's face with burning cheeks as the backlight from the tanks surrounding them glowed softly around them.
"Why're you blushing, moron?" Matsukawa recovered enough to spit out.
"Dumbass, this is awkward as fuck," Hanamaki stuck his tongue out defiantly and it said something about how absurdly horny Matsukawa must be because his first thought was that he wanted to suck on that pretty, pink tongue. Matsukawa tried to shake his head and with it, his dirty thoughts. Hanamaki caught him looking at his tongue anyways.
"Oh my God. No, I don't like girls, you absolute retard. I just said maybe one day I'd let you fuck me, what the fuck?" Hanamaki rolled his eyes as he responded to the earlier question. Matsukawa felt like his head was going to explode. How in the world could his best friend just say such embarrassing things so calmly and in public nonetheless?
"Uh, right. Yeah, that makes sense. Ok. That's good, then," Matsukawa shifted uncomfortably, glancing around.
"Is that it?" Hanamaki had his eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed. He looked like a pissed off, irritated cat. A strawberry-brown cat. Cute.
"I don't know. Maybe," Matsukawa twisted his own lips. He wanted to tell Hanamaki the feelings he had that had been steadily rising to the surface every second they spent more time together, but at the same time he really just wanted this awful tension to clear. It was really almost unbearable.
"Mattsun, just fucking confess to me. I know you look at my ass in practice and you like it when your mom pampers me."
"I like you, go out with me," Matsukawa dutifully replied, feeling like he was on automatic mode.
"Duh, loser. Who else could go out with a caterpillar-man?" Hanamaki finally smiled, and Matsukawa felt his heart settle with relief. When did he start sweating?
"I'll have you know that plenty of people find my eyebrows roguish and sexy," Matsukawa retorted, and once Hanamaki grinned, the brightness of it completely put Matsukawa at ease and left something warm and fuzzy settle into his stomach.
"Yeah, you're right. But you can't go out with any of them, because I'm the only one with a butterfly catcher."
"What?"
"Shut up, I was trying to be cute."
"You're always cute, Makki," Matsukawa laughed. He felt like he was on a cloud. A cloud of cheese.
"You're disgusting and corny. Hold my hand," Hanamaki held his hand out, which Matsukawa was quick to take. They finished walking around the aquarium, holding hands the entire time and bantering as they always did.
"Two cheese filled hamburg steaks and two cokes, please," Hanamaki ordered and brought out his wallet to pay.
"You don't have to pay, I will," Matsukawa offered, but Hanamaki curled his lip in distaste.
"No, then today will feel like a date."
"Isn't it?" Matsukawa asked, confused and a little hurt.
"No way. I already put all this effort into getting us together, you have to ask me for a proper date and plan that shit out," Hanamaki sniffed petulantly, but Matsukawa could see the mischevious glint in his best friend and now lover's eyes.
"You're such a brat, I confessed."
"After I told you to. Zero out of ten points for coolness, boldness, and romance factor of our youthful confession scene."
"True. I'll take you on a real date later then, Takahiro," Matsukawa ducked his head and quickly walked over to the other side of the counter to pick up their food as Hanamaki blushed and sputtered after him.
Love had apparently turned the both of them into overly sappy idiots.
Matsukawa found he didn't exactly mind.
"That is so unfair of you to use my name like that. You are so unromantic. That's supposed to be a milestone and you just casually use it in the burger place," Hanamaki complained as they walked back from the train station to Matsukawa's house.
"Yeah but, it's not really a big milestone for us, right? I mean, we may have only been dating for a couple of hours now, but we've been together for years," Matsukawa said in what he considered his most comforting voice.
"You don't understand the needs of my innocent, pure, maidenly soul, Mattsun," Hanamaki whined.
"Are you Oikawa?"
"Would you date Oikawa?"
"Ew, no," Matsukawa wrinkled his nose with distaste. The two made similar noises of disgust before Matsukawa laughed and stated, "Oikawa is gonna be so mad we got together before he and Iwaizumi do."
"Oh my God, you're right. We're going to have to rub it in his face so hard," Hanamaki giggled maliciously.
"He's gonna think he lost to us or something stupid like that," Matsukawa hummed, already giddy at the thought of torturing their captain.
"We are gonna be so disgustingly coupley in front of them, holy shit," Hanamaki breathed out.
"I could tell my mom that we-" Matsukawa started, but Hanamaki cut him off.
"No, I want tonkatsu but let's text them to hang out tomorrow."
"It's a date," Matsukawa finalized. "A date, with my gorgeous boyfriend slash best friend and our two weird friends who can't get their heads out of their asses and realize they're in love."
"Mattsun, you had your head in your ass not four hours ago," Hanamaki reminded him.
"I'll have you know that I realized I was in love with you before that," Hanamaki huffed indignantly.
"Ok, but would you have confessed without me pushing you, Mattsun?"
"Eventually," Matsukawa stopped, forcing Hanamaki to as well. He looked into Hanamaki's eyes and said, as seriously and somberly as he could, "I would have. I definitely would have."
The two stood there, staring into each other's eyes. The sky was a blue gradient, dissolving from sapphire to a light, baby blue with bright, puffy, white clouds all around. The neighborhood was quiet, save for a few cricket chirps here and there and the rustling of cloth in the wind from laundry and other miscellaneous causes. A dog barked from somewhere around the corner, but the two teenage boys paid no mind.
Silence.
"What the fuck are we, boys love characters?" Matsukawa broke the silence and snorted.
"You know, I wasn't going to say because you seemed like you wanted this to be a romantic moment but that was truly disgusting," Hanamaki chuckled.
"If you weren't staring so much, it wouldn't have gone on so long."
"What the fuck, you started it!"
"Yeah, and I finished it!" Matsukawa finally gave in and laughed deeply which led to Hanamaki gasping for air as he cackled.
"And that's not going to be our first date. That's just a hangout, you cop out," Hanamaki reprimanded once the two finally managed to finish laughing. Matsukawa found himself nodding, hopelessly endeared.
Friendship was nice, but whatever this was was definitely nicer, Matsukawa thought as the two traded jibes back to his house.
Dinner had been fantastic, of course. Matsukawa felt like he should probably feel offended that his mother only seemed to cook her best for Hanamaki, but well, he was that way too. Watching Hanamaki devour the breaded pork and egg on rice, scarf down the miso soup with onions, and demolish the bowl of mixed greens filled him with warmth. Also disgust.
"Slow down, you pig," Matsukawa rolled his eyes.
"Issei! You eat as much as you want, Makki," Himeko chided and pushed the plate of tonkatsu closer to the strawberry brunette, encouraging the boy to eat more. Hanamaki thanked her profusely and moved another section of meat onto his plate. Matsukawa rolled his eyes again, but continued to stare at Hanamaki with affection.
"My, what lovestruck eyes," Hanamaki commented, before shoving another bite of food into his mouth and prompting his boyfriend to turn away with a flushed face. Himeko giggled, and Matsukawa knew that Hanamaki had doomed him to a week of insufferable glances and hints from his mother.
"We're dating now," Matsukawa stated in a futile attempt to get the future, undoubtedly uncomfortable conversation out of the way, causing everyone at the table to look at him with round eyes.
"Er, were you not before?" Matsukawa's father asked, with furrowed eyebrows thicker than Matsukawa's own.
"Shush, dear. That's wonderful, I'm so glad, boys," Himeko smiled widely, happiness and love injected into her tone of voice and ringing with sincerity in every note.
"You're just glad you have even more of a reason to feed Hanamaki."
"I don't need more of a reason. Makki is family and has been for a while," Himeko tossed her head a little, as if shaking her head at the ridiculousness that was Matsukawa and his suggestions. Hanamaki just blushed at his seat.
"Hey, sorry, Makki. Was I not supposed to tell them?" Matsukawa asked later, as the two lied in his bed side by side.
"No, it's fine that you did. I was just surprised," Hanamaki's voice sounded tremulous.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, dummy. I'm just, I dunno, happy," Hanamaki assured Matsukawa, whose face started to take on a glow at Hanamaki's words. Hanamaki playfully glared before saying, "Shut up."
"I didn't say anything."
"You look too happy, like a lovesick fool."
"I am a lovesick fool," Matsukawa paused and then, "Takahiro."
"Stop that! You keep doing that! Mattsun!" Hanamaki whined, face completely red. Hanamaki was usually unshakeable. Knowing that he could be the one who could shake the boy up made Matsukawa feel invincible.
"I can't believe you were able to say such bold things earlier yet now you're acting like a schoolgirl because I said your name, Takahiro."
"You're the worst, Mattsun."
"Call me Issei."
A beat.
"C'mon, Takahiro. Be nice to your boyfriend," Matsukawa teased and rolled onto his side so he could look at Hanamaki better. "Takahirooooooo."
"Ugh, ok ok shut up you fucking loser."
"That's not my name."
A pause. And then, very quietly-
"Issei."
Matsukawa felt his ears burning up and the two were once again locked in a cliche, romantic deadlock stare and Matsukawa found himself leaning in and Hanamaki's eyes were beginning to close in a demure way and- Ding!
Hanamaki sheepishly grabbed his phone.
"Oikawa says that he and Iwaizumi can hang out tomorrow," Hanamaki read off the text.
"I'm going to kill him. He's a mood killer even when he's not here," Matsukawa groaned and flopped onto his back into his original position.
"Serves you right. You can't kiss me until we've had our official first date anyways," Hanamaki said, trying to come off as confident and flirtatious. But Matsukawa could hear the other's breathing was a little more airy and a little quicker. He wasn't the only one affected. Good.
"Makki! Mattsun!" Oikawa called out to the two of them as they approached the meeting place. Matsukawa waved with his right hand in response as the pair sauntered over to meet their friends. His left hand was busy holding Hanamaki's right.
Iwaizumi eyed their clasped hands uncomfortably. He was curious, but he didn't want to be rude or anything. Luckily, Oikawa didn't pay such trifling social niceties any mind and immediately started to attack their fellow third years the minute they were standing at a decent conversational range.
"Are you two finally dating?! When did you start? Who confessed? Have you two kissed?" Oikawa excitedly peppered them with questions, buzzing around them like a bee. A really annoying bee.
"Oi, let them say hello first," Iwaizumi growled with exasperation. Hanamaki and Matsukawa barely got in their hellos before Oikawa started out again, and Iwaizumi slapped the back of Oikawa's head in an effort to get him to stop. It worked.
"Ehhh, that hurts, Iwa-chan," Oikawa pouted.
"You don't even give them enough time to answer your dumb questions," Iwaizumi responded, unrepetenant.
"We're together," Matsukawa finally answered with a shit eating grin. Hanamaki's face also started to contort with his usual, sly smirk.
"So together. Issei confessed, finally," Hanamaki said, barely stumbling over Matsukawa's first name. They'd practiced a lot the night before. A dark night filled with whispered first names, repeated with affection so sickening they had to stop before they choked on their own love.
"Our boyfriendly love is filled with indescribable wonder and enjoyment. So much love," Matsukawa crooned. It was a lot. Iwaizumi was understandably suspicious.
"We'd been friends for so long, pining so hard. There was so much pining. It was really unbearable," Hanamaki chimed in, boring holes into Iwaizumi's own eyes.
"But now that I confessed, I'm so unbelievably happy and filled to the brim with contentment and happy, fuzzy balls of love and warmth. So happy," Matsukawa was also staring at Iwaizumi now, who was starting to sweat a little.
"Who knows what would have happened, had Issei never gotten up the balls to confess to me. We would have just continued in our equally fantastic friendship but we would have been so much more miserable," Hanamaki added in, voice going to a deadpan.
"There would have been so much more, endless pining and whining. Nights spent crying over photos of each other's faces and eating ice cream while writing sickening love poetry," Matsukawa solemnly contributed. Again. Iwaizumi felt unfairly targeted. Oikawa was also standing still, quiet for once in his life. He also looked close to tears. Damn his friends.
Oikawa always was an ugly crier. And Iwaizumi couldn't bear to see him cry.
"I get it, I get it already you demonic duo. Go the fuck away so I can confess," Iwaizumi shooed the couple away. Hanamaki and Matsukawa gave him identical smirks before hopping off.
"Let's call our hang out off! I'm gonna go make out with my boyfriend now!" Matsukawa called out as they went away.
"Official date," Hanamaki's voice carried over. And then the two were gone. And it was just Iwaizumi and Oikawa.
Time to suck it up.
"Oikawa. Uh, I mean. Tooru. Tooru, I really like you. Will you-"
"Yes!" Oikawa interrupted loudly, with big, star-filled eyes brimming with the hope and happiness born from years and years and years of adoration, friendship, and love.
"Shut up Shittykawa and let me finish asking you out," Iwaizumi grumbled as Oikawa draped himself over the vice-captain to mumble apologies. Iwaizumi refused to find it adorable. Absolutely refused.
Hanamaki and Matsukawa smiled to each other from around the corner. Obviously they had recorded the whole thing on both their phones. How else would they wrangle a free meal from the new couple?
Matsukawa and Hanamaki had walked off after they were sure that their friends had gotten their happy beginnings. It was their duty to get the captain and vice captain together. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to go on double dates.
Speaking of dates.
"Makki. Takahiro. Let's go on a date. A proper one. I'll buy you flowers, and walk to your house and pick you up, and we can go watch a movie and then go to a nice restaurant, ok?" Matsukawa said in a rush, shifting awkwardly on his feet. Hanamaki was going to totally roast him for this.
"Wow, so cliche, Issei!"
Yeah, there it was. Matsukawa waited.
"Nah, let's just go somewhere now and that'll count," Hanamaki said, causing Matsukawa to sputter helplessly. All that fuss about an official date and now Hanamaki was ok with whatever. Hanamaki continued on to say, "I really just wanted you to ask me on a proper date. I'm too impatient to actually go through with it; I want to make out with my boyfriend ASAP you know?"
He did know. God, did Matsukawa know.
"You're still buying though," Hanamaki's smug voice filtered through.
"Brat," Matsukawa fondly said.