After Suga had taken Asahi home, Oikawa hadn't thought much of it. Hinata had texted him a whole bunch, thanking him for his help, and passing along Suga's thanks as well. Other than that, it was in the past, and at least the omega had woken up. That was the main thing.
But then, almost two weeks later, Oikawa left the gym after practice to see a tall figure loitering by the gates of the school. With the height, and the bun, there was no way it wasn't Asahi. But the way he stood, wringing his hands, with his head down, standing right by the fence to take up as little space as possible, he looked like he was trying very hard not to be noticed. With a gaggle of Oikawa's fangirls just a few feet away from him, maybe he was trying not to be noticed.
"Isn't that Karasuno's ace? What's he doing here?" Oikawa heard from behind him, and turned to see a few of his teammates had followed him out of the gym.
Matsukawa was the one who had spoken, and it drew Hanamaki's and Iwaizumi's attention to Asahi as well.
"Huh. Weird." Hanamaki said, then shrugged. "I'll go see what he wants." He took a step forwards, but Iwaizumi stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
"No. Oikawa should go."
Iwaizumi's expression was unreadable, and the setter couldn't quite understand why his friend seemed so adamant. But he was curious to find out why Asahi was there, so he wasn't about to argue.
Of course, heading over there meant that his fangirls flocked to him, holding him up with their fawning. He humoured them, sending well practiced smiles that had them sighing, and winks that left them swooning over the alpha. The whole time, he kept sneaking glances at Asahi, just to check the omega was still there.
It went on for longer than Oikawa would have liked, and when he glanced over again Asahi had turned, looking very much like he was about to walk away. That wouldn't do at all.
"Ladies, I really am sorry. I'd love to stay and talk to you some more, but there's somewhere I really have to be."
The girls sighed, clearly disappointed, but Oikawa managed to get away, hurrying after Asahi as his little crowd dissipated.
"Beard-kun, wait up." He called, and the ace turned with a look of surprise on his face.
"Beard-kun?" He repeated softly, as if testing the name in his mouth to see if it really did apply to himself. Oikawa laughed.
"Yeah. Don't your friends give you nicknames?"
"They just call me Asahi."
"What about Asa-chan?"
"Nobody calls me that either."
"Well now I do. So, what are you doing here, Asa-chan? Isn't this a little far from your nest? Are the crows migrating this time of year?" He asked, a teasing edge to his voice. A deep blush bloomed on Asahi's face, and he looked down.
With his head bowed like that, and his arms tucked closely around his midsection, Asahi looked, well, small. It was odd. Especially when Asahi was taller than Oikawa. He shouldn't look so small, but he really did.
"Well I…I never really thanked you for helping me. And I didn't know if I'd run into you again, so I thought coming here was my best shot. But I didn't know when your practice ended, and you were talking to those girls, so I shouldn't have. I'm sorry." He paused, and Oikawa opened his mouth to speak, thinking Asahi was done. Only to close it again when Asahi bowed deeply and continued. "Thank you, Oikawa-kun. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't helped me, so really, thank you so much."
Oikawa had to smile, and it was only partially fake.
"You don't have to apologise. Besides, Refreshing-kun and Shrimpy already thanked me a whole bunch, so there's no need. You needed help, I was there, that's it."
"But it's really not!" Asahi replied quickly, standing up straight just as fast. His burst of confidence seemed short lived, as he lifted one arm to rub the back of his neck, looking down.
"Normally when I…drop-" He whispered the word as if it was a curse. "-Suga can bring me back up just by talking to me. It doesn't matter what he says. But…I think I really needed to hear the things you were saying."
Oikawa's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"You could actually hear me?"
Asahi's blush was back.
"Sort of. It's all fuzzy, I don't remember exactly what you said. Just the tone, but, Suga told me some of it. But that isn't the point. The point is, thank you, because if you hadn't been there, and if you hadn't known what to do, then…then it would have been really bad."
"You're welcome, Asa-chan."
There was a brief moment of content silence, then Asahi gasped, his head snapping up again. Then he was digging through his bag looking for something.
"I almost forgot!" He found what he was looking for, and pulled a small paper bag out, suddenly becoming nervous again. Oikawa couldn't help thinking his confidence must only last on the court. "I got you this. I know what it looks like when an omega gives an alpha a gift, so I'm sorry if it's weird. I just thought, you really helped me, and I left it too long to come and thank you for it, it was rude of me. So, it's sort of a thank you and an apology in one. You don't have to accept it."
There was no hesitation in taking the little bag when it was offered to him. Maybe it was a little weird, but Oikawa was no stranger to weirdness.
"Aw, Asa-chan, so cute. You shouldn't have." The teasing edge was back, but he quickly fell silent as he opened the bag. Inside was a little keyring. It would have been a fairly standard gift. Except that it was an alien. In a volleyball kit. With the number 1 on its shirt. And all Oikawa could think was 'how did he know?', followed very swiftly by 'how did he find something so specific?'.
All he got out was "How did you-" before Asahi was rambling again.
"I'm sorry, it's weird, isn't it? I knew I shouldn't have, I just, I thought I should do something nice, so it had to be something you would like, except I didn't know what you like and sweets seemed too much like something you would give somebody you're dating – which we're obviously not, so I mean, I didn't even know where to start. So I asked Hinata since I know he talks to you but he didn't know and then Kageyama got all annoyed at me for asking Hinata and he told me you used to talk about space sometimes in middle school, and I only know you like volleyball but I didn't know what to do and then I saw that and I thought- but even if you did talk about space you might not like it anymore and – god this is so weird, you don't have to keep it – it's not a big deal, I just-"
Oikawa was barely listening, catching just enough to be vaguely in awe and vaguely confused, but mostly staring at the keyring. But more than rambling, the omega smelled distressed, and it pulled the setter out of his daze.
"Asa-chan, stop. Breathe. I like it."
"You do?" Asahi was actually breathing more heavily after his outburst.
"I do. It's a very nice gesture. Though I cannot imagine where you found this, it's got everything. Even my number. Thanks, Asa-chan."
The smile that lit up Asahi's face was worth any previous awkwardness, and Oikawa found himself smiling as well.
"Oikawa. It's getting late, we should go." Iwaizumi appeared beside the Seijou setter. Oikawa turned to look at him, nodding, and when he looked back, Asahi's smile was gone.
"I should get going too. Thanks again, Oikawa-kun. Iwaizumi-kun" After a polite nod of his head to both alphas, the ace turned and started to walk away, but Oikawa called after him.
"Asa-chan, wait. Be careful, alright? It's dangerous out there for an omega on his own."
An unreadable mixture of emotions flew across Asahi's face, before the look in his eyes settled into a kind of sadness despite his small smile.
"I'll be alright. I don't look much like an omega, so nobody bothers me. But thank you for your concern."
He turned and started walking again, and Oikawa watched him go.
"You're interested, aren't you?" Iwaizumi asked. Oikawa twirled his new keyring around his finger and smirked.
"He's interesting."
The shorter alpha sighed and started the walk home, and Oikawa followed, sparing a last glance over his shoulder at Asahi.
"You don't look much like an omega, huh? Yeah right."