There was something about morning jogging that made Oikawa feel good; from the cold air nipping his exposed skin, the feeling of his muscles stretching and how the time spent on running cleared his mind by the end of the run.
It was a refreshing kind of activity that helped him maintain his body at the same time as he continued to play volleyball in college. So it was essentially a beneficial and convenient pass time to include in his schedule as he went through his morning routine before having to go back to reality and follow up with classes and staggering piles of homework. Running was never an issue to go through instead, it was always welcomed to regress everything else. And as he continued to run around a couple of blocks with his current neighborhood he found time slots to appreciate the environment and various people that walked through it. The city proved to be busy and loud; there was never a quiet moment for his ears to strain. Street lights had always been on to illuminate his room when he over late night studying. At first, it was stifling but as a couple of years passed with him staying within the city Oikawa got used to the accents, the silent customs and overall vibe of busybodies plaguing the streets and roads. There were moments when he missed the quieter landscape of enclosed with nature yet, as he continued to work and study in the city he found a place to watch his life grow. It got better with time, with patience to see life dwindling and getting easier for him.
So yeah, there were some obvious differences in his life since three years ago after leaving his hometown; but that didn't stop or make Oikawa back down. It made him stronger as he made new friends and acquaintances as he strove to succeed. Making the volleyball team and being captain again was rewarding as he pulled his new team to many victories. His grades were the same as he made a name for himself as one of the best tutors around campus as he got free coupons or a good amount of money for his services. His knee was still a minor problem nevertheless, he was able to progress more positively with time and maturity of seeing how fragile youth really was. And as he made a sharp turn he looked at what was ahead of him. From his right there was a minor construction site and from his left there was a quieter street corner that had a small cafe and flower shop.
Oikawa normally didn't take detours yet for some unfathomable reason he picked a different turn to finish his run. At the time, he didn't know why he did it; just that he was happy he did.
The street corner was just as the appearance predicted: quite stores, few people mingling and this flow peace mixing into the air. It was quite a difference between this spot and the rest of the city as its counterpart was loud and chaotic. It was definitely a rare finding that was within his jogging radius; that he made a mental note to come back later to check out the cafe and bookstore after his classes and practice. When he got to the crosswalk his eyes landed on the flower shop ahead of him, the sign was bright and simple the flowers were in bloom but, what caught him off guard the most was the flash of blonde hair tied up with a cute set of hair pins. Her smile was the embodiment of the flowers she was watering, her gracefully walk didn't escape him or even when a small gust of wind blew to her face making her push a couple of strands behind her ear. From his current distance he couldn't see her eyes yet but, Oikawa had a feeling he could melt from them. When it signaled him to go forward he found himself jogging closer in a slower pace, trying to memorize every detail about the shop and worker. As he got closer he couldn't help but mentally laugh as he passed her and taking notice of their utterly ridiculous height difference was. It was adorable and laughable at the same, but there was a charm about it he wouldn't pass up. She looked far better up close with the few seconds he got to pass her. Even if she didn't look at him directly Oikawa was still happy to have seen her that day at all and became aware of her existence. In a normal situation he would have lingered but, with his watch telling him he was running a little late for his shower before school he had to cut it short and treasure the few glances he was able to maintain.
After a whole day of homework and volleyball practice Oikawa slumped over his bed after coming back to his apartment. The stress of getting assigned multiple of papers was getting irritating, it was taking away time to replay and analyze material for volleyball. Not only that but it looked like he was going to have to decline a weekend of sleep and go instead to the library to research and stare at his laptop for hours. It also meant on having to pre buy his caffeine drinks before getting ready to start in this slow agonizing journey. The only thing that made him feel less than crap was his morning adventure earlier. Ever since his third year in high school Oikawa never said yes to dating again; granted he had small crushes in between but he never pursued them like before. It wasn't because he was still head over heels from his longest high school deceased relationship, it was just because he wasn't sure he could handle actually letting a person have complete control of his life. He had volleyball as his number one priority for so long that when he was dumped back in his third year of high school he felt more guilty than heartbroken. He didn't know why exactly he said yes to one of his classmates, just that it soon came to bite him in the butt as she wanted more than he could ever possibly afford back then. He tried it once upon a time ago, to be in love but in the end, being full of expectations for being the perfect partner took a toll from him. It was hard, he was very childish and volleyball was really all he knew the best. He knew small things about girls and having to cope with having a fan club; but that couldn't stop Oikawa from being immature and essentially a human being that barely had time to explore being "in love". There were academics to stay on top, games to analyze or counter attack, not to mention a team to watch over. So it was no wonder why she got tired real fast and left.
Oikawa couldn't deny that he was blind sighted and dumbfounded when she started whining and breaking up with him one day. It all started as a normal day too; they greeted each the same, ate lunch together but by the end of school her voice was spiteful. She claimed she had a lot of good reasons why it should end (and a lot he agreed in his head) but still found himself saying short lies that he would try harder to make it work but, they both knew what was more important to him. So she left and Oikawa was left with a bitter taste of ending his technically longest relationship he ever managed with the opposite sex. He liked her in the beginning, she was a girl nice (but then again they were all in his club). The problem was that she never made a full impression to his memory that he sort of forget her name and how she looked like to this day. All he could instinctively remember was the guilt of being a pretty crappy boyfriend to her. That experience itself never made Oikawa go out to the world and try again, it just only confirmed that volleyball at that point of his life was more important than being in love as he only liked the theory more. College was the same for the first two years; he had smaller crushes in between semesters and fewer hook ups that he could count them with one hand. What didn't help was that they all had the same thing in common: They were brief highs that Oikawa could get over them easily enough.
That was why it was so refreshing when he made a quick detour; his heart felt like it fluttered faster than any game he has ever played. His body couldn't deny the way it felt so light and heavy at the same time when his eyes locked with that flower shop employee's grace. Still unnamed and a stranger Oikawa couldn't believe how different this crush was melting his veins, making him sweat and shake. She was a lovely girl with a visual fragile strength from a distance that it made him curious about her. He wanted to get to know her and see the real her and then compare his first impression about her. He didn't know how to explain it but, in his gut he knew it was different. She was someone that Oikawa didn't want to escape from his radius, he wanted to be by her side. To hear her laugh and look straight at him and have endless conversations about anything. He was probably sure he was smitten already; he knew that his crushes were instant.
But he knew.
It was something stronger than a fling or a passive crush. And tomorrow morning he would make a better presentation of himself and be her friend first before scaring her off by coming too strong. Oh no, he definitely didn't want to screw his chance up to get to know her. This was new beginning for his nonexistent dating status as of late; he was tired of only personally knowing about an abstract selfish side of love from few flings he grasped and hardly understood. Because, from the moment Oikawa saw her his stomach was unsettled just like his mind going into overdrive. It was stronger; his body could tell and he was going to listen to it.
The tension was up there; Oikawa couldn't even deny it the way he scrabbled off from his run and heard his heart go crazy the second he stepped outside his apartment and clashed with the real world. He wasn't wearing his casual clothes he picked out last night, instead he automatically wore his running gear after eating a light breakfast and finished his morning routine. He knew had an "image" of being a magnet to the public from his looks, but what few people realized was, Oikawa Tooru, was actually just plain awkward with romance. He had a good poker face and an excellent facade of fake confidence to fool his peers for years but it was a fact that Oikawa barely had any real experience of being perfectly happy in love. Crushes were a different realm; whether mutual or one-sided being in love was a tricky spectrum of happiness. He loved volleyball, he loved his family and he enjoyed his friends. However, being in love with another person like his parents were to themselves was something alien to him. It wasn't simple like they said it was, only partial. Oikawa knew enough that he never made it far with his relationships; it wasn't like he was too ashamed and in a hurry but, as he was reaching his final steps of college he started to think about his failed attempts more than he would confess. It wasn't strange…at least he didn't think so with the number of people in his life have started to mingle in ways he hasn't. He didn't want to join their groups just for the kicks, Oikawa honestly wanted to know how it felt to be loved unconditionally and vice versa to another. Yet as the years rolled by and minus the flower shop glimpse Oikawa recognized the signs of being shallow getting in the way of his heart.
He liked how he looked and worked to maintain himself. Oikawa Tooru could admit it. That was never a secret and he didn't try to hide it. As a result, he had more than enough friends to knock that high horse crap to keep him moderately modest. So it was no brainer that when it came to his flimsy tales of hooking up he had a streak of keeping the status quo. He liked pretty things like himself, he loved selfies so if ever wanted to be a part of a pair Oikawa had some inkling that his partner was going to around the same level of popularity. Or at the very least be just as pretty as him. So when it came to trying relationships, appearances were considered briefly in his head. It sounded bad, it made him feel like a jerk but it was true. There was this side of him that just liked to keep up this aesthetics and he was human with flaws. Either way, Oikawa knew he wasn't the only person that focused some attention to physical attraction; it was far easier to roam in when he tried being in love first. After all, it helped him gain a humble beginning that made him curious of having butterflies in his stomach. They always made him grin the way they would flutter around and make his blood sore throughout his fingertips. The tingling sensation was fun to describe to family; even as he got older he liked explaining this rush to his friends. Iwaizumi may have hit the back of his head one too many time but, it was always worth the lectures and grumpy retorts he received to see how his friend showed his support of trying to start a genuine relationship.
Oikawa knew there was nothing wrong about liking the theory behind love too; he knew he had a somewhat high expectation of it that could never be achieved. But it still didn't stop him from hoping love would soar higher than the atmosphere and hear out his whims. Just like his past partners wanted, Oikawa now wanted to pursue the richest and gentlest parts of love. It was scary, thrilling and something close to a climax of his beginning point of a new chapter of his life. As he jogged and looking at how quickly the scenery changed he realized that all his fussing inside his head got him closer his destination with having the game plan fully written and prepared. He couldn't breathe, he was covered from head to toe from sweat so in all Oikawa looked like shit to even grace her with his presence. His hair was probably a disaster with it limping down to his forehead. But it somehow didn't stop his feet from carrying him back to the flower shop and letting gravity making it harder to pass it quickly. Oh no, it didn't. Instead, life was an ass making her water the same plants from yesterday and look directly at his direction. Her brown eyes were huge, innocent and made gravity tug at his legs that he almost tripped when he felt the corners of his lips lift and one hand almost wave at her. He was only thankful that the hand he raised was the one holding his water bottle. He casted his eyes down to his water bottle before discreetly making a side glance to get a better view of her uniform and noticing the name, Yachi Hitoka written on her tag. She didn't make a move to stop watering the plants when he ran passed her and he didn't stop to talk to her. He was disappointed with the lack of talking, but he chalked it off with tomorrow being the next opportunity. By the time he saw his apartment building his heart was still fluttering, his cheeks were considerably more colored than before he pasted the flower shop. Getting back inside his apartment and in the comfort of his own paid residence he murmured her name once out loud. He got her name, the shade of eyes but still no voice to with it. But tomorrow.
Tomorrow was another chance if not the next day to try to talk to her and hopefully make her smile.