25.

In the eyes of his fangirls, Oikawa Tooru is a very handsome and accommodating guy.

He's not the type of person who ignores the attention, in fact, he usually enjoys them. He can spend minutes of his time entertaining the girls- and he finds it very amusing on how the other boys will stare or glare at him in envy. He especially doesn't mind the gifts or more particularly, the food he gets because well, it's free. However, it often comes with a pain everytime Iwa-chan will hit him on the head for taking so long. But hey- at least he has fangirls.

Still, he cannot be a patient guy all the time, especially if he is on a rush and has something important to do. Like right now, as he stood near the bus stop, trying to escape the flock of girls surrounding him. Such is the pain of being the popular guy.

"Sorry girls, but I really need to go." he said for like the fifth time, flashing them one of his charming smiles. Some of them gave a whine of disagreement at this, showing him looks of disappointment. His smile turned to an expression of wary.

"Eh? Do you really have to go right now?"

"But it's only been a minute! Can we at least get a picture?"

"Maybe next time? I don't want to miss my bus." Oikawa responded, glancing at his watch. He started to take some steps away from the group but the girls quickly followed him, blocking his path. He sighed, exasperated, a headache starting to grow inside his head. Patience, Tooru. "Look, I really-"

"Tooru-kun!"

A loud voice called his name, and instantly, he felt his heartbeat quickened at a familiar rush of feelings. Whipping his head at the side, he captured a view of her figure rushing towards him, her orange locks out of its usual ponytail- and her smile nervous but welcoming at the same time. For a moment he just stood there, mesmerized, until she managed to tug him at the wrist, slightly making him tumbled out of balance.

"I've been looking for you! Come on, we need to get going or else we'll be late!" she said to him with a meaningful look in her eyes, which he quickly understood. He was not able to respond though, as her attention was already diverted to the number of females looking at the couple in surprise. "Sorry, but we're on a rush right now. Bye!"

"H-hey-"

Before any of them can form any coherent response, the Karasuno volleyball player already pulled her companion for a run, leaving the fangirls gaping at their direction in a frozen trance.

The two continued running until they reached a location far enough for the girls to follow, and they stood there at the side of the street trying to catch their breath. Oikawa was rendered speechless for a moment as he stared at her- at this girl, who is the one invading his thoughts and dreams almost everyday. It felt like forever since the last time he saw her at Karasuno, and the emptiness inside his heart caused by her absence were instantly filled at that moment.

Oh God, I missed her.

"Shou-chan." he uttered her name as a greeting, and she quickly looked up to him with that big, brown eyes of hers.

"Hi," she greeted back, still panting slightly. "Sorry for dragging you all the way here. I don't think they will follow us anymore."

"I'm not complaining," he responded, a visible smile adorning his lips. "I'm just surprised. I'm not expecting that, Shou-chan."

A little pink dusted her cheeks as she laughs softly, almost embarrassingly. "I thought you needed some help, so I decided to be your hero this time."

"Hero?"

"It's like a reversal of our role. You saved me from a group of guys once, remember?" she reminded him, looking proud at her action.

"Oh yeah, I remember that." he regarded her amusedly, his eyes flashing with a total look of endearment. "Thank you for saving me, hero."

"By the way, what are you doing in that place? Are you waiting for someone?"

The brown-haired former captain faltered at the reminder, as he glanced at his watch again. "Actually, I was waiting for a bus going to the central town. There is a certain movie I needed to watch at 11:30am."

"Eh?!" Hinata exclaimed in alarm, looking at her own phone for the time. "But it's already 11:15! Oh no, I shouldn't have dragged you here! I'm so sorry!"

"No, no, it's okay. I can just watch it next time."

"But it's not fine-"

"I'll just go with you." He announced jovially, making the girl flabbergasted. Contrary to what she saw earlier with the other girls, he doesn't seem to appear upset at the fact that he missed his movie.

"Huh?"

"Where are you going right now?"

"Uhm, actually..." the gingerhead gestured to her bag, obviously filled with something more than just a purse. "I'm heading to the public library to study. We have an exam on Monday and I can't afford to fail."

"You're alone?" He tilted his head to the side, looking very curious. Hinata just nodded her head.

"Yeah. I don't want to disturb the others on their own studies, and I need more reading materials as a reference. That's why I'm here."

"Then I can teach you some of the subjects! I can be your personal tutor for the day!" he said brightly, confusing her even more.

"Eh? ...Are you sure? Don't you have something more important to do than you know...helping me?"

"Not at the moment. And besides..."

Oikawa sighed, his expression turning very soft, almost shy. When he met her eyes, it was filled with nothing but a warm gaze, something that people can rarely see on his pretty face.

"I missed you, Shou-chan."

Silence befalls the pair. Hinata stared at him with wide eyes, visibly surprised by the words and the tone he used.

But then she remembered how astounded she was when she saw him earlier- easily recognizing his handsome features while he was being surrounded by a group of girls. She remembered how her body automatically went towards his direction at the sight of his wary face, despite her fear of being mobbed by the others. She just knew that he needed her- and she can't deny the happiness she felt for seeing him after such a long time.

Her expression turned serene, as she smiled at him softly. "Yeah. I missed you too, Tooru-kun."

"..."

In that moment, he thought of moving forward to lock her into his arms, to give her a tight hug filled with all the feelings he's been longing to say since the time he realized her meaning to him. He wanted to whisper it to her ears, to let her know how much he cares. Too bad he's such a coward to do so.

Instead, he just stood there, trying to calm the erratic beating of his heart.

Ah, this is bad.

...

I've fallen too hard.

"Aww, Shou-chan, you used the wrong word here." Oikawa said, pointing at a sentence she has written on her notes.

"Really? What did I get wrong?"

"It was supposed to be 'has been', not 'have been'. You're only talking about one subject which is 'she'." he explained, encircling the word on her note with his red pen. The girl's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Y-yeah, you're right. Sorry..."

"You're almost there, Shou-chan! You're committing fewer mistakes than before. By the end of the day, I'm sure you'll get this."

"Thanks. I'll try my best." she smiled at him apologetically, while he just chuckled and patted her on the head fondly.

The gingerhead was not kidding when she said she's bad at studying. They've been in the library for a few hours now, and they've only covered three subjects so far. After teaching her about Math and History, their focus right now is on the English subject which is apparently- her worst subject.

Though there's a bit of a struggle, the girl has managed to learn a lot of things from his lesson and for that, she's very grateful. As minutes passed by, she can feel her stomach starting to growl in hunger, reminding her of the time. Glancing at her watch, she grimaced.

It's already 1:30 pm. Oops.

They will need to get out of the library to buy some food.

"Tooru-kun," she called the brown haired captain, who quickly looked up from his phone. "Do you want to go out with me?"

Silence greeted her words as Oikawa just stared at her with a blank expression on his face. Realizing her earlier statement, a blush made its way up to her cheeks.

"I-I don't mean it like that! I'm just asking if you want to go outside t-to buy... food!" she explained, stuttering.

"...oh. Okay." the tall boy just responded. A bit clumsily, Hinata started to pick up her notes and puts it into her bag. A hand reaches out to get one of her books, and she froze when his skin touches hers. When she looked at him, there's a smile on his face that indicates his amusement at her expression.

"Shou-chan, be careful. You can give any boy a heart attack with questions like that."

"I-I know. Sorry..."

His tone suddenly turned merrier. "But if you're going to ask me that question, I won't mind! If Shou-chan wants a date, who am I to say no?"

The gingerhead pouted her lips. "You're teasing me again."

"Because your face is just too cute!"

"...I hate you."

"I like you too!"

The girl tried to give him a playful jab from the side, but he quickly moved away, still chuckling softly.

I really do.

Luckily, there were only a few people by the time they entered the cafe.

Hinata and Oikawa easily found a seat near the window, and the girl put out one of her notes while waiting for the waiter to arrive. The brown haired boy stared at her in a slight surprise, noting how serious she looks as she reads.

"You're really taking this very seriously, huh?" he commented, making the gingerhead stare at him. She just gave a small smile.

"Hehe. I need to study hard so that I will not fail again. If I failed, I won't be able to attend the training camp."

"Failed again?"

Her cheeks turned pink in embarrassment. "Last year, Kageyama and I failed one of our exams... so we arrived at the Tokyo training camp very late."

He chuckled. "Tobio-chan failed too? I never knew he's that dumb."

"I'm sure all in his head is volleyball." she added, before realizing something. "...though I'm also like that. Sometimes..."

"Don't you like studying, Shou-chan?" he asked amusedly, eyes crinkling.

"I hate it..." she pouted. "But it's not like I have any choice..."

They were interrupted when the waiter finally arrived to take their orders. After ordering their lunch and some desserts, they need to wait for another set of minutes before they could eat. Deciding she's too hungry to read properly, Hinata put her notes back to her bag.

"How about you, Tooru-kun? How's your life at your new school?"

Oikawa hummed before responding. "I'm absolutely fine. Less painful at least, since Iwa-chan is not with me anymore."

"Oh...aren't you feeling lonely?"

He laughed. "Well, Iwa-chan is just around my neighborhood, so I can actually see him at least once a week. And also, my classmates are not that bad, so I don't think it's lonely."

"That sounds good." she smiled. "So, you're in the volleyball team, right? How's your new team?"

"They're alright." he answered, before a sour expression appeared on his face. "Most of them, at least. Damn Ushiwaka."

Hinata's mouth dropped open in surprise. "You're teammates with Ushijima-san? That's very amazing!"

"No, it's not!" Oikawa responded, almost pouting. "He's the worst. My first day at practice was ruined because of him! And that voice of him, urgh..." recalling his words, the former Seijo captain tried to imitate Ushijima's face and voice. "Ah, Oikawa. It seems like fate has finally brought us together. What a jerk."

"...Maybe you were really destined to team up one day?"

"But Shou-chan, that's not it!" he looked at her in despair. "How can I defeat him if we're on the same team? He's definitely a rival, and there's no way I'll be able to work properly with him-"

"Pftt... Hahaha!"

He stopped. With a bewildered gaze, he watched as Hinata's shoulders shook with laughter, her eyes staring at him with mirth.

"S-sorry..." after several moments she has finally calmed down, though her face still held amusement. "It's just that... you're just like me."

Oikawa just blinked his eyes in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I have the same reaction when I first met Kageyama in Karasuno." she giggled again. "He's my rival from middle school, and I also vowed that I'm going to defeat him one day. I never thought that we're going to end up as teammates in highschool though."

"Tobio-chan is just as annoying as Ushiwaka." he commented, making the girl smile.

"I know, we did not really get along at first." she stated. "But anyway, you do not have to worry about it, Tooru-kun. Everything will be fine."

He sighed. "I'll try."

"I know you can do it." she said to him with absolute confidence. "Your name is Oikawa Tooru, after all."

That ended the conversation as their food already arrived, and the boy became too flustered to speak.

Several minutes later, the two volleyball players were back in the library, tackling on the last lesson for the day. While Hinata was busy answering the activity on her notes, Oikawa's phone suddenly vibrated from his pocket, indicating a call.

"Shou-chan, I'm just going to take this call, okay?" he informed the gingerhead, who just nodded her head without looking up.

"Sure."

As he stood up from his seat and went towards a secluded corner in the library, the former Seijo captain puts the phone on his ears, greeting his caller in a merry voice.

"Hello, Iwa-chan!"

"You finally picked up your phone, you idiot." an irritated voice answered from the other line, making the brown-haired voice confused.

"Eh? Have you been calling me all this time?"

"Of course! This is like the fifth time!" Iwaizumi shouted from the other line. Oikawa winced at the loud sound as he slightly puts the phone away from his hearing.

"Iwa-chan, don't shout! I'm in the library right now!"

"Library? The hell are you doing there?"

"Uhm... studying?"

"You never study, you idiot."

"Iwa-chan, so mean! Of course I need to study to keep my grades high!"

"Stop lying."

Oikawa sighed. "Fine. I'm with someone."

"Who?"

"...Shou-chan."

"You're with Hinata? How?"

"I just met her on the street. She said she's going to library, so I'm here with her."

"...Ha. I thought you finally plucked out the courage to ask her out."

The boy's cheeks heated. "Iwa-chan! You know that I can't do that!"

"What's stopping you? You never had a problem with getting girlfriends before, so what's the difference here?"

"You don't understand, Iwa-chan." his tone turned different, almost sad. "She's... different."

"What do you mean?"

"I think she will never take me seriously." he responded. "If I told Shou-chan how I feel, she might think it's just a non-serious flirting. She's always asking me to stop teasing her."

"Because that's the problem, dumbass. You're the one not taking this seriously." Iwaizumi scoffed from the other side. "Do you really like her or not?"

"Of course I like her! I like Shou-chan so much!" he responded heatedly. "I just don't know what to do if she rejected me."

"Then respect her decision if that happens! But right now, just man up and confess!"

"I-"

The sound of a book dropping on the ground interrupted what Oikawa was about to say, and he quickly turns around. He then stilled, and his mouth went dry.

"Uhm... I-I'm just returning these books..." Hinata Shouyou reasoned out, her cheeks flaming red. She picked the book from the floor and quickly returned it to a shelf, not really checking if it's the correct section or not. Her eyes are refusing to meet his and she looks very nervous, an indication that she has heard his conversation. Oikawa pressed the end call button on his phone, not hearing his bestfriend's protest, and he dropped his gaze on the ground, face incredibly flustered.

A moment passed by with neither of them moving.

"I-uhm... I think I've already learned enough today, s-so we can now go home, I guess..." she continued to stutter.

"Sh-Shou-chan..." he started, not knowing what to say.

"I-I'll be going ahead now. Thanks for teaching me, Tooru-kun. B-Bye!" she turned on her heel and scampered away from him quickly. He heard the sound of her clumsily picking up her things, then the hurried sound of footsteps and the closing of the door, before a complete silence filled the room.

Oikawa put his hands on his face and groaned, feeling like an idiot.

That's so careless! It's not supposed to be like this!

He took a deep breath and moved his hands inside his pockets, leaning on the shelf and staring at the direction of the door somberly.

But she just left...

He scared her completely. Though it hurts, he completely understand why she suddenly run away. If only he acted brave enough and told her genuinely how he feels, it would not end like this.

"Because that's the problem, dumbass. You're the one not taking this seriously."

He paused and thought about Iwaizumi's words. After a while, his expression cleared up and a look of determination appeared on his face.

It should not end like this.

In just a few seconds he was already out of the door, running through the streets and searching for Hinata.

Where is she?

He continued running while his eyes are looking hopefully at the crowd, only stopping when he turned into a corner and has bumped into someone. He could have just said sorry and move forward, if not for the sight of the person's orange hair.

She came back.

"Shou-"

"I-I'm so sorry!" she suddenly exclaimed, eyes a bit glassy. "After all the help you did...I'm so terrible, leaving you alone like that... sorry...I'm just-"

He can't help it anymore. The remaining space between them was gone as he puts his arms around her neck and pulled her closer, smelling the sweet scent of her hair as he rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Tooru-kun...?"

"Thank you for coming back."

They stayed like that for a while, before the boy finally lets her go. He then took her hands and she followed his steps, both of them walking silently until they reached the bus stop. Glancing at him from the side, Hinata finally opened her mouth after a long moment of hesitation.

"Tooru-kun, I'm really sorry for running away like that..."

The warmth on her hand was gone as he turned around to face her, and her cheeks turned pink at the handsome, affectionate smile he threw at her.

"It's fine! It's my fault anyway."

"Well... is it true? What I heard-"

"I really like you." he finally confessed, and the gingerhead's immediate reaction is to gape at him and blush madly.

Oikawa sighed as he runs his fingers through his hair, his face the same color as hers. "I'm just sad that you found it out that way."

"I-I..." she stated, visibly surprised. "I never expected that someone like you would think of me that way..."

"You're a wonderful person, Shou-chan. Anyone would like you." he stated warmly. Silence permitted the area as the girl failed to give a response, her eyes on the ground as she shifted restlessly.

"Ah, there's your bus." the brown-haired boy stated suddenly, jolting the girl from her thoughts as she raised her head in alarm.

"W-wait, it's here already? B-but..."

"It's okay, Shou-chan." he moved closer and ruffled her hair fondly. "I'll be waiting."

"Huh?"

"You don't have to answer me now. But I promise that I'll do my best to make you like me ~" he winked, rendering her speechless once more.

Before the bus can make a complete halt in front of them, Hinata gasped softly as he embraced her once more, his cool breath on her ears.

"Just five more seconds."

Ah, this is so nice.

Despite the events, Oikawa felt rather relieved at what happened. He's finally done it, Iwa-chan will be so proud. Still, the fear on his heart remains.

Possible rejection. He'll just deal with it when it comes.

Hey, guys, here's the 25th chapter!

Oikawa is seriously one of the most difficult characters to write, and I'm not even sure if I did him well on this chapter. But well, that's another confession done and there's two more to go! It might not happen immediately on the next chapter though-well, it depends on what ideas will come into my mind.

Anyways, thanks again for reading and supporting this story!