Oikawa was ready. This was the first step and then he would finally be able to beat Ushiwaka and prove that he hadn't made a mistake by choosing Aobajōsai. Iwaizumi didn't say a word as they traveled to the school to meet the rest of the team. He knew just how important this was. Oikawa thanked the aliens above that he had ended up with an alpha that really did understand that there were times he had to be closed off from everything else to focus on what truly mattered. Well, mattered to him anyway.
The team greeted them with smiles but Oikawa could see that they were just as nervous, just as ready as he was. They were subdued on the way to the courts, Oikawa only managing to nod along as Coach spoke of the other teams in their block. They were almost to the doors when a group of girls flooded around the setter, cutting him off from the rest of the team. He flashed them a bright, fake smile and laughed as they began to chatter. Most of the girls were Beta's but he could smell one Alpha and Omega in front of him. Yahaba paused for a moment to help Oikawa escape but the omega simply waved him on. He needed the distraction and they weren't going to be playing for awhile anyway. He could meet up with everyone later.
"Oikawa-san, are you searching to expand your circle?" One of the girls asked brightly, her eyes fluttering.
Oikawa flashed a bright smile but could feel his omega retreating as far away as it possibly could from the girl. "I'm focusing on volleyball at the moment," he said merrily, smiling once again as another girl held out a bag of cookies.
"I made these for you!" She said loudly, cutting off a response from the first girl, "I hope your team does well today!"
Oikawa reached into the bag and carefully took out one of the treats. "Thank you," he responded, happily taking a bite. "It's delicious! You really made this?"
"Yes! I stayed up all night making them!" She exclaimed and Oikawa winced as his omega whimpered and retreated even further.
"That's so nice! Thanks!"
"It was nothing!"
"Oikawa-san, can I take a picture with you?" The Omega finally spoke up, her voice much softer than the others that had previously spoken.
"A picture? Sure?" He replied with a smile. He had to admit, being close to another omega was making him calm somewhat.
The calmness didn't last long.
He yelled out in pain as something slammed into the back of his head, making him stumble forward. "Ouch! Not even the coach hits me-" Oikawa started furiously, turning to yell at whoever had dared to hit him. He stopped speaking instantly when he saw his absolutely furious alpha standing there, volleyball in hand. "Uh, sorry. Let's do the picture another time," Oikawa sent one last smile toward the girls and hurried to his alpha as his omega began to howl.
"We're going," Iwaizumi snarled as Oikawa got close. He grabbed onto Oikawa's arm and tugged him into the building, Oikawa letting out a yelp as he did so.
"Iwa-chan! Be careful!"
"What the hell were you doing?" Iwaizumi demanded as he continued to pull him down the hallway. "This isn't the time for – Coach wants us to watch Karasuno."
Oikawa stopped complaining instantly and picked up his footsteps. Karasuno. That's right. They needed to watch the crows, to see how much they had improved. If Karasuno won there was a chance they would be playing them. And Oikawa was not going to let Kageyama win.
"Nice of you to join us," Coach snapped as they met up with the rest of the team. "Alright, let's go," he grumbled, leading the way into the gym.
The team moved forward, searching for seats with a good viewpoint. There wouldn't be a point in watching if they couldn't make out what was happening. "Oh! It's Turnip Head!" someone said loudly. Oikawa fought back a smile, one that Kumini didn't even try to hide, as Kindaichi looked toward the court questioningly. "Turnip Head? What's that?"
"It's you. What else?" Kunimi laughed at his friend and mate.
Kindaichi glared down at his omega, "What?"
Oikawa saw both Chibi-chan and Tobio staring at the two first years. Well, that couldn't happen. They should be focusing on him, after all. "Yoohoo! Tobio-chan, chibi-chan! How's the freak duo doing?" He asked as he leaned over the railing and enjoyed the twin looks of horror the two were giving him.
"It's the Great King!" Oikawa heard as he was once again wincing in pain as something slammed into his back.
Damn! In the same spot… "That hurt, Iwa-chan!" He whined loudly as he scowled at his alpha. The pain faded from his memory as his eye caught something on the court. "Oh. They have a libero. He wasn't there for the practice match…"
"Neither was the big guy," Iwaizumi said, coming up to lean beside him. Oikawa followed his gaze to the tall number three as he leaned against the strong body beside him. Iwaizumi's arm traveled around him and Oikawa nuzzled further into the warmth.
"Ooh, interesting," Oikawa commented with a smirk. "This might be worth the time after all."
"Such a crappy guy."
"Iwa-chan!"
Oikawa pulled away from his alpha with a huff and moved toward a chair, leaving Iwaizumi leaning against the railing. He let his eyes travel over the players in front of him. He was sure the other team would be just as confused as his own team once they started to play. He would enjoy seeing the reactions on their faces.
It wasn't until his eyes landed on a specific person that Oikawa realized he had been looking for someone. Oh. That tall middle-blocker. The first year. Oikawa almost gasped out loud when his omega sprang forward in his chest, urging Oikawa to go to the kid. Oikawa felt his hands clench into fists. This was not the time for this. He had other things to worry about and he wasn't going to let that tall kid be one of them.
"Their opponents are confused," Iwaizumi said in amusement and Oikawa was finally able to pull his gaze away from the Karasuno first year. "But you can't blame them. I mean, a middle blocker competes with the tallest players."
"Those that underestimate him have another thing coming," Kindaichi muttered. Oikawa briefly wondered where Kunimi had wandered off to but he knew the other boy was probably slumped in a chair somewhere trying to sleep.
Iwaizumi laughed in response, "Spoken from experience."
"I'll grind them to dust next time," Kindaichi vowed.
Oikawa felt a small grin take over at the words. Well, he couldn't say his first years weren't dedicated. He fixed his eyes back on the game as the whistle blew. Within the first few plays he knew that things were different. Karasuno was different. And that libero was quick. Very quick. Just with him as an addition, the team had changed dramatically from the team he had seen a few weeks ago.
Oikawa yawned pointedly as Karasuno's apparent ace spiked and people in the stand began to murmur. Yes, the man had power behind his spike but it was nothing compared to his Iwa-chan's.
"Wow, that's awesome power," Iwaizumi muttered and Oikawa glared as Kindaichi agreed.
"Iwa-chan!" Oikawa reprimanded and was promptly ignored. He was going to continue to whine but then he saw it. The shrimp was jumping.
Oikawa jumped out of his own chair and moved toward the railing. He watched in amazement as Tobio and chibi pulled off their quick attack. "Wow," he muttered as his eyes trailed the odd duo. He felt more than saw Iwaizumi's nod in agreement. With a sigh, Oikawa moved to gracefully slide back into his chair. "I don't think Karasuno will have much of a problem with this match."
"Such a crappy guy," Iwaizumi muttered but Oikawa felt the strong rush of affection directed toward him from the alpha so he didn't bother to retort.
"It looks like they're going to win the first set in no time," Kindiachi mused.
"That libero is a pesky one," Iwaizumi commented and Oikawa had to agree. He hadn't taken that little one into his plans. "Now that the dude with the beard is playing, Kageyama has even more options."
Stupid Kageyama.
Oikawa crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back into his chair. Iwaizumi was right. At their practice match, Karasuno was still a disjointed and had a group on unreliable players. They still haven't reached their full potential, potential Oikawa would be happy if they never realized they had, but they had certainly improved.
And giving more options, any options, to Kageyama was dangerous.
Oikawa didn't like it.
Iwaizumi slid into the seat next to him as Karasuno took the first match. "Glasses isn't too bad. Needs some work but he blocks well," he commented softly as he stared at the tall first year.
"I didn't notice," Oikawa said airily though they both knew it was a lie. The omega's eyes had constantly strayed toward the blond as the game continued on.
"Sure you didn't," Iwaizumi muttered with a fond smile. The alpha slid an arm on the back of Oikawa's chair and the omega let himself fall sideways just slightly so he could rest against the warmth and security his alpha radiated. The two rested there for a moment, Kindaichi hovering uncertainly in front of them, until the next match began and Iwaizumi joined the other blocker against the railing once more. Oikawa almost whined at the loss but he quickly clamped his teeth shut. Iwaizumi sent him a smirk and briefly brushed his hand against the mating mark before moving to lean against the railing.
Kageyama was up to serve first. Oikawa sat up in his chair as his former kohai took on a familiar stance. He couldn't…
"A service ace…" Kindaichi gasped.
Oikawa growled when he felt amusement flash through his bond. Oh, Iwaizumi thought it was funny, did he? "Karasuno has stepped up their game, even after winning the first set," the alpha replied, ignoring the irritation his omega was displaying. There was no way the alpha wasn't feeling it- Oikawa was making sure to broadcast it loud and clear.
Oikawa watched in annoyance as his former kohai pulled off yet another service ace. He still had work to do to get to Oikawa's standards, a lot of work, but there was no doubt he was going to get there.
And he hated that thought.
The match continued and soon enough, Karasuno had claimed victory. Oikawa's eyes trailed the blond first year as he made his way off of the court and out of sight with others from the team, leaving only the coach, manager, and odd duo in his view.
"Do they realize they have to play another match this afternoon?" Kindaichi questioned as he shook his head.
"Huh?"
"I mean, it was impossible for the other team to make a comeback. They should've conserved their energy-"
No.
"I'm glad they didn't," Oikawa cut in as he got to his feet and stretched his arms over his head. From the corner of his eye, he saw a group of alpha's watching him appreciatively. "We got to see them be serious, although we didn't get to see that freak quick."
"The match on that court's done, too," Maki said as he walked over to the three, "Dateko won handedly."
"So it will be Dateko vs Karasuno. Who will win?" Kindaichi questioned.
"Let's go," Iwaizumi cut in, moving past the first year and placing his hand on Oikawa's arm. Oikawa didn't miss the glare he sent at the group that had been watching Oikawa. "It won't matter if we don't win." His hand slipped off of Oikawa and he and the others walked off to join the rest of the team. Oikawa didn't move. His eyes were fixated on the two odd Karasuno players. He wanted to play them. He wanted to have a true match with them.
"Do well against Dateko," he muttered as he moved his eyes away and began to walk toward his team. "Let's play a game, Tobio-chan."
They won their game against Omisaki easily. The opposing team didn't have half of the determination as Oikawa's team and they didn't seem particularly motivated. Winning the first two sets ended the match and Oikawa found himself at home with Iwaizumi quicker than expected.
"They won, you know," Iwaizumi said as he gently placed a bag of ice on Oikawa's knee.
"Hmm?" Oikawa questioned, shifting slightly so the alpha could slide beside him on the bed. Iwaizumi did so, leaning against the headboard so Oikawa could rest against him. Oikawa winced slightly as the shifting made him twist his leg.
"Karasuno," Iwaizumi clarified, "They won against Dateko."
Oikawa chuckled, "And you thought I wouldn't know that? Silly, Iwa-chan."
Iwaizumi let out a huff and slid his arm around Oikawa's waist. "Yeah, I figured you would have found out already. I just thought I'd mention it. You know, in case you want to pull the blonde's pigtails again."
Oikawa gasped in indignation and sat up so he could turn to glare at the alpha. Iwaizumi laughed loudly, holding onto Oikawa's waist as the omega struggled to get out of his hold. "Iwa – I don – that wasn't what I was doing!"
"Sure, sure," Iwaizumi laughed, ignoring the flailing arms. "I'm just saying that you might want to cut back on the flirting during the match. We can always find him afterwards."
"Hajime!"
To say Oikawa was excited about the next match was an understatement. "Calm down," Iwaizumi finally snapped as they walked into the gym.
"We're going to win," Oikawa informed his alpha brightly.
"I know," Iwaizumi sighed, most likely because Oikawa had been chanting the same thing all morning. "Come on, let's warm up and get this started."
Soon enough, Oikawa found himself shaking hands with Karasuno's captain, "Let's play."
They began warming up, Oikawa giving his teammates encouragement as they did so. Well…most of his teammates. There was a small incident when Oikawa told Iwaizumi he was working too hard and it wasn't like any of the girls would be looking at him anyway. Kindaichi had to hold the alpha back from his omega. Oikawa merely laughed. He hadn't said anything that wasn't true – the girls would be too focused on him to pay attention to the alpha.
Not that it mattered anyway.
The two teams lined up, Iwaizumi smacking Oikawa in the back of the head as they did so. Oikawa found himself staring at a familiar face. Glasses-kun stared back at him, eyebrows raised. Oikawa didn't smile. He made his face carefully blank as he stared at the younger beta. He literally felt as if a cord was tying the two of them together and someone was trying to force his body to move forward to lessen the pull. He held himself back.
This wasn't the time.
Feeling another pair of eyes on him, Oikawa forced himself to look to the side slightly. He met another familiar face. Blue eyes glared at him and Oikawa couldn't help but throw a wink Tobio's way. "Idiot," Iwaizumi muttered from beside him.
Oikawa moved forward as soon as he was able, moving to intercept the opposing setting, "Tobio-chan," he started, making the first year turn to him in surprise. "I came here excited to take down the genius setter, so do your best, and hold on," he taunted with a smirk.
Tobio's expression didn't change but he did turn to face him fully, "We will win-"
"We won't lose!" Another voice cut in and Oikawa found his sight blocked by bright orange hair.
Oikawa couldn't help but stare at the furious shrimp as Kageyama berated him for cutting in on the conversation. He then turned back to Oikawa, "We won't lose this time either!"
"Eh? I guess we'll see," Oikawa smirked, his hand resting on his hip.
A few minutes later and both teams were making their way onto the court, "Okay, let's do this," Oikawa said, "Now then, as usual… I believe in all of you." They all huddled and Oikawa smirked, "Let's go!"
First serve was Glasses-kun and Oikawa was almost disappointed at how light a serve it was. No matter, no matter. He shouldn't care, he should actually be thankful. He shouldn't be thinking about anything other than the game. He looked up at the ball in frustration. He really should set that, probably to Iwaizumi as an opening move.
However…
He jumped. He took out his frustration on the ball, spiking it as hard as he could. He felt his lips twitch when he saw the looks of shock on Karasuno's faces.
Well, he felt better.
"Come on, I'll be doing the same thing again," he said to the other team, taunting them. "Don't stand there so out of it. Pay attention."
"Is it time for the mind games already?" Iwaizumi muttered as he made his way back to his position.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Iwa-chan."
"Such a crappy guy."
For his own amusement, Oikawa made it obvious that he was going to spike the ball the next play – only to turn it into a set for his alpha.
He really did love those looks.
"Hey, that was a little low," Iwaizumi said as the stands erupted into cheers.
"Really? Sorry about that," Oikawa returned, amused that his alpha was choosing to point that out now of all times. "But, Iwa-chan, you usually hit it regardless."
He was still amused as the next play started. And then it happened.
"I'll be doing the same thing again. Pay attention!"
And there went all amusement. It was replaced by pure rage that had Oikawa clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. "You stupid little brat."
"Oikawa," Iwaizumi snapped instantly as he moved forward. "Come on," Oikawa had no intention of moving. He was considering if it would be worth getting suspended from the game if he dove under the net to grab onto the- "Now."
Oikawa reacted instantly to that growl, turning his body to face his alpha. Iwaizumi moved closer to him, leaning his head toward the omega. "Take a deep breath. It's one point. We'll get it back on the next play."
Oikawa felt his anger subside slightly and then completely vanish as Iwaizumi reached up and lightly brushed his finger against the claiming bite. Oh, that felt nice…
"Kageyama is serving," Iwaizumi muttered as his hand dropped. He motioned for Oikawa to get into position and the omega did so with a scowl. Yes, serving. A jump serve. That little…
"He sure blew that one out of the park," Iwaizumi said in amusement as the ball flew completely off the court.
Oikawa was giggling, his irritation vanishing. For the moment. "What an amazing homerun."
"Hey, I was right. We got the point back."
"He practically gave it to us."
Oikawa smirked as the ball was tossed to him. "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to show you how it's done."
He took aim at the libero. Two reasons for this. One, if the libero missed than it would help break down the other team. Knowing that their libero couldn't get his serve…well, it would be perfect ammunition. Second, if he did get it, Oikawa would be able to pick out flaws and strengths in the kid.
Either option was helpful.
He watched closely as the libero moved to intercept it, sending it up. "Aw man, he really is amazing!" Oikawa said as he ran forward.
"What do you mean, 'show you how it's done'?" Iwaizumi snapped in exasperation as he watched the ball. "He received it without a problem!"
Poor Iwa-chan. Oikawa just laughed sheepishly, knowing that Iwa-chan wouldn't be happy with his reasons for aiming at the libero.
Karasuno took the point with another freak quick. "That god-like toss should be against the rules. Jeez," Oikawa muttered.
"Sorry I keep messing up," Kindaichi apologized earnestly.
Oikawa sent a small smile toward his kohai. "Well, they are the Karasuno that toyed with Date Tech. Let's just wait a bit," Oikawa told him. "It shouldn't be much longer." He moved to tie his shoe, keeping his face down so no one could see the smirk. The longer he took to do this, the longer the delay was to start the round. Which meant more time to goad Kindaichi. "More importantly, Kindaichi, I'm sure you're rather frustrated that the role of Kageyama's partner was stolen by that little shrimp."
"No, not really-"
"It's fine. Don't sweat it," Oikawa continued on as if the first year hadn't spoken. "Even if Tobio thought of you as a minion that wasn't very useful in junior high, I, the great Oikawa-san, will prove that you're amazing, even without using god-like quicks."
He stood and gently prodded Kindaichi forward. "So don't worry and just jump."
"What the hell did you just do?" Iwaizumi muttered as Oikawa moved past him.
"What I needed to," Oikawa responded, holding back a smirk.
He didn't have to hold it back only a moment later with Kindaichi scored. "So crappy," Iwaizumi muttered as he moved to serve.
Karasuno scored but it was that play that it finally clicked with Oikawa. What he had been waiting for. He quickly motioned for coach to call a time-out and moved toward the side with the rest of the team. From the corner of his eye, he caught the panic that briefly flashed across Kageyama's features.
"I'm pretty sure I'm right about this," Oikawa started as he glanced around at his team, "It's 'bring it' and 'to me'. I noticed that shrimp would always yell something when he'd move in on the ball, and I thought it seemed pretty stupid. But when they use that god-like quick attack, it appears they are using 'bring it' like 'bring it here' or 'bring it to me'. And with a normal one they're using 'to me'. But that shrimps role is to be the decoy. They want us to focus our attention on him. So let's just set up a simple rule. When we hear 'bring it', let's just have one person mark the shrimp. When we hear 'to me', let's see where the toss goes before we jump. Okay?"
"Right!" His teammates yelled out in agreement.
"Considering we took a time out this early when nothing's really happened yet, don't you think they realized that we've realized what they're doing?" Iwaizumi asked.
"That's completely fine. It's actually better if they realize it!" Oikawa assured his alpha. "If they know that we've realized they're using those signals, it might be minimal, but Tobio will panic."
Iwaizumi let out a sigh, "Of course that would make you happy. Everything else okay?" He asked as the rest of the team broke away.
Oikawa frowned, "Why wouldn't it be, Iwa-chan?"
Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, "You know what I'm asking Crappykawa."
Pursing his lips, Oikawa nodded. "I haven't really thought about it since the game started. I'm fine, Iwa-chan! We need to focus and beat Tobio. Then we can move on and Ushiwaka-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Iwaizumi let out a sigh, "I don't know why I even bother asking about this. Let's just focus on the game."
"That's what I've been saying this entire time, Iwa-chan!"
Oikawa wasn't going to lie and say it was an easy game. It wasn't. At all. Actually, it was much more difficult than he expected. They won the first match but Karasuno managed to get the second. And that third…well, Oikawa wasn't going to lie and say he hadn't been worried.
But they did it. They won.
Oikawa could barely keep his eyes open by the time he and Iwaizumi got to Iwa-chan's house. "I'll get some ice," Iwaizumi muttered as he began to walk to the kitchen. Oikawa stopped him with a hand on the arm.
"Let's go to bed, Iwa-chan."
"Tooru, if we don't ice your knee-"
"Too tired, Iwa-chan."
Iwaizumi sighed and moved toward the bedroom. Oikawa stripped quickly and crawled into the bed, snuggling under the blankets and waiting for Iwaizumi to join him. Instead, Iwaizumi stripped out of his clothes and placed on a loose pair of pajama pants before bending down and placing a kiss on Oikawa's forehead. "I'll get that ice."
"Iwa-"
"We have a big game tomorrow," Iwaizumi said, his voice becoming monotone as he mentioned their next match. Oikawa twitched and forced his eyes open. That's right, tomorrow they were going to play-
"Get some sleep. I'll take care of it."
"Iwa-"
"Sleep, Tooru."
