Chapter 10: Under the Surface

"Can I help you?"

"Stay away from Oikawa-san."

Yuna paused her scribbling and squinted up at the second-year girl before her. Her bright hazel eyes shone with malice and her long auburn waves were clearly fake.

Yuna blinked once.

"I'm sorry-" she pretended to clean out her ear- "could you repeat that? I couldn't hear you clearly over the sound of your explosive sense of entitlement."

"You heard me," the girl snarled quietly, placing a perfectly manicured hand on Yuna's desk and leaning into her space. "Oikawa has limited attention outside of volleyball and don't think I haven't noticed that it's been on you all of a sudden."

Yuna let out a sudden bark of laughter. "Oh god. You can't be serious." The derisive look on the underclassman's face told her she was completely serious. Yuna folded her hands over her worksheet and leaned forward to meet the girl's gaze. "You're right, Oikawa does have very limited attention outside volleyball. So tell me: what gives you the right to dictate how he spends it? Who he spends it with?" Her question was met with silence. She nodded. "Exactly. Oikawa does what he wants, when he wants. No one can make him do otherwise."

"And yet, you somehow made him hang out with you," the girl (Yuna hadn't asked for her name, and at this point, she didn't care to) sneered with a toss of her hair. The overly-perfumed scent of her shampoo irritated Yuna's nose. Strawberries. Ugh. Yuna let out an exasperated sigh; clearly this girl wasn't getting the point.

"Look, princess," Yuna folded her hands under her chin and squinted up at the girl, "I don't know what rock you've been living under for the last two years -I'm assuming you're a second-year, because most third-years are already aware of this- but I've known Oikawa and Iwaizumi since junior high. I'm not exactly going to dump them just because some lemon-faced shrew gets jealous." She looked the girl over. "No offense, but I've seen a dozen girls just like you walk in and right back out of his life. So sorry, dollface, but I don't think I'm going anywhere; I'm his friend."

The girl blinked in surprise, then sneered. "And that's all you'll ever be." She took Yuna's lack of response as a cue to keep going. "Everyone who knows Oikawa-san knows that you and him don't have the best track record of friendship. And even I can tell that you look at him differently now -but it's never going to work out for you. You think he suddenly wants to be friends with you? After you scorned and belittled him for so long? You couldn't even stand to be in the same room together. Even if he somehow managed to want to be friends with a salty toad like you, he'll never like you like that. Wake up. He's just using you. It's not like you're actually friends -he probably just got tired of listening to you run your mouth all the time and is playing nice until he can leave you in the dust." The fangirl smirked. "What, no sharp retort this time? Run out of words?"

"No," Yuna said blandly, folding her arms, "I just don't speak desperation." She looked past the red-head when she saw Oikawa slide into his seat a few rows ahead. He waved cheerily. She nodded back once. "You know, for someone who is going through a lot of trouble to convince me I'm a horrible person and don't deserve to breathe the same air as Oikawa, you've painted a really shallow picture of him."

Brown-Eyes seemed to balk for a moment, unsure. "Let me tell you a little something about Oikawa Tooru: Oikawa is the brattiest, snarkiest, most petulant, most self-absorbed primadonna to ever set foot in Japan." The girl's mouth dropped open at the offensive declaration. "That being said, he is the most fiercely loyal human I have ever met. Especially to his friends. So, riddle me this, since you seem to know him so well: If Oikawa found out you were verbally harassing one of his friends, do you think he would take kindly to you instead? Does that seem like the kind of thing he would do, since he's apparently so petty, in your well-informed opinion? No?"

The expression of pure, horrified, confused disbelief on Red-Head's face gave Yuna a bit of smug satisfaction, though she would never admit it. She rose from her seat and realized she towered at least a head over the snotty underclassman. Bracing her palms against the desk, she leaned into the other girl's space to emphasize her final point. "Well, since you don't seem to have a sharp retort-" she threw the girl's previous words back in her face "-to prove that he would pick you, an admirer, over me, his friend, and seeing as Oikawa is currently sitting three seats forward and one to the left of us, I kindly suggest you. Step. Off."

Yuna refused to blink as she stared down the underclassman. She had stiffened at the mention of Oikawa's close proximity and swallowed, her face flushed an angry red. She seemed to wrestle with herself before spinning on her heel and flouncing out of the third-year classroom, taking her stuffy strawberry scent with her. Yuna glared after her.

He's just using you.

Not like you're actually friends.

You don't have a track record of friendship.

She clenched her fists and shook her head, slumping back in her seat.

The slamming of the classroom door had drawn Oikawa's attention and, noticing the disconcerted look on Yuna's face, he rose from his seat. He ambled over to her desk, hands stuffed casually in his pockets, his shirtsleeves rolled up just past his forearms. Yuna was momentarily distracted by the muscles shifting under his skin as he came to a stop in front of her. She continued to stare at his arms as he pulled a hand from his pocket. Dazed, she watched as his hand moved towards her in slow motion… before poking her in the forehead.

Yina blinked up to his smug face.

"Eyes up here, Inoricchi."

Crap. He'd caught her staring. "Didn't even notice you, Bakakawa," she quipped habitually. He cocked an eyebrow and she looked away.

"So…." he drawled. "Wanna tell me about what just happened?"

Yuna scoffed. Not at him, but at the ludicrous situation. "Just the normal ridiculousness of the female psyche asserting itself to atone for a sense of inferiority."

"Japanese, please, Inoricchi."

"Jealousy, Oikawa." She turned back at him, exasperation coloring her tone. "I was dealing with a jealous fangirl."

"...who's fangirl?"

She gave him a pointed look. "Who do you think." A strange look seemed to flash across his face, a mixture of seemingly chagrin, annoyance, and… was that guilt?

"What did she do?" asked the setter.

"Oh, nothing out of the ordinary. Just the usual blather about 'you're too close to him' and 'he belongs to his fans', that sort of thing."

"Someone told you that garbage?" He quizzed. "And you said this is ordinary?"

"Not for me in particular, but yes, some girls are at the receiving end of this type of behavior. Surely you realize that happens?" She squinted at him expectantly. His gaze darted away.

"I suppose I've become immune to it by now."

Yuna sighed. "It's not that big of a deal, Oikawa. The baseball team has had its own share of shrieking snakes, despite my attempts to minimize it. You're not the first athlete to muddle girls' brains and you certainly won't be the last."

"Gee, don't say all that just to make me feel special, Inoricchi," deadpanned Oikawa. "I'm blushing."

She shrugged. He then looked back to her and had an expression resembling for all the world like a kicked puppy. "Inoricchi," he began softly, "have any of those girls ever hurt you?"

"Hurt me?" He nodded. "Physically?" Oikawa's expression crumpled further, but he nodded again. Yuna felt her own expression soften. "No, Oikawa. No one has done anything. I've done a pretty good job of avoiding that at all costs." Smiling in hopes that he would as well, she continued. "I didn't want any of it to get back to you or Iwaizumi -it would have disturbed your practices. I can take care of myself." Oikawa looked thunderous for a moment before sighing; just like that the storm had passed.

"So…" he hedged. She raised an eyebrow and began to pull out her books for their first class. He coughed and scratched his cheek.

"Spit it out, 'kawa, class starts soon and you're so scatterbrained you'll forget whatever you want to tell me before lunch."

"Hey! I'm not scatterbrained, I'm very organized, and methodical, and sensible, and-" He froze when Yuna shot him a smug, wry smile. "I just walked into that, didn't I?'

"Hook, line, and sinker," she laughed. "So what is it?"

"Well, I was asking Iwa-chan about things you like to do, and since we only got to hang out a few times this summer, I wanted to hang out more on weekends or something, and I thought it would be easier to go to places that didn't have too much food -y'know, since the last time we hung out in a restaurant you ended up in the hospital and I don't want that to happen again- so he was saying you like things like books and animals and baseball, and then! I remembered Keiko-chan said you like jellyfish! And there's a great aquarium in Sendai with jellyfish (I know because I looked it up) and it's quiet in the mornings so you won't be bothered with noise, and it's only two trains away-" he finally took a breath "-so what I'm trying to say is: do you want to go to the aquarium on Sunday?"

Yuna wasn't sure whether to laugh or roll her eyes at the sheer deluge of information that Oikawa had just doused her with. She hadn't even tried to interrupt his rambling like usual. She settled for just staring at him, mouth slightly agape. He stared at her unblinking, awaiting her answer. The longer he waited, the more fidgety he became. When he opened his mouth to backpedal, Yuna blurted out, "Yes."

Oikawa snapped his mouth shut and an odd expression arranged itself on his features that Yuna couldn't have placed in a million years. "Alright. See you then." Then he slunk back to his desk, hands returned to his pockets in that definitely (not!) distracting way that made her breath catch, just for a moment.

The walk to the aquarium from the station took about fifteen minutes, just enough time to start getting into her own head. The train ride there had provided enough time, but now that she was actually on her way and her attention wasn't focused on making sure she got off at the correct stop, Yuna couldn't help but feel… anxious. She had managed to shove aside the acerbic taunts of that fangirl from earlier in the week, as she normally did. But something about what she had said had burrowed under Yuna's skin, unseen.

He was just tired of fighting with you all the time. It's not like he actually likes you.

If she was honest, it really wasn't a thought Yuna herself hadn't already had at some point in recent months. Oikawa was her friend now; but why? What sudden power had come over him that made him decide to tolerate her more? Had someone made him? Did he have some sort of embarrassing secret he was just waiting to dangle in front of her face?

Yuna shook herself to rid her mind of the invasive comments. She and Oikawa had come a long way. They were friends now. They hung out with their other friends. He had hung out with her family. He had saved her life, if she wanted to be really dramatic.

She... cared about him; and he cared about her, too… didn't he? He wasn't just messing with her to get back at her for all those years of… what? What had soured their relationship in the first place? Yuna frowned at the thought.

No, she thought stubbornly, he's not smart enough for a plan that elaborate. Or patient enough. No, Oikawa would definitely want something flashier and instantly gratifying if he were going to lead her around by the nose.

All thoughts -good or bad- fled when she saw Oikawa waiting for her outside the aquarium.

It was like she was shoved into a scene from a shojo manga, with the way he turned to look at her just as the breeze picked up and ruffled his clothes, fluffing his already ridiculously tousled hair. He smiled and gave her a tiny wave, before dropping his hands back into the pockets of his shorts in a casual stance. The sleeves of the white button-up he had left open over his striped shirt were rolled up over his elbows -exposing corded forearms that Yuna was becoming increasingly mortified to realize she was obsessed with. She was pretty sure she had quit breathing. She had definitely stopped walking, and when she realized her stagnant state, she forced herself to move again. Reaching his side finally, she realized there were little aliens on his button-up.

Yuna snorted involuntarily. "You're such a nerd," she said, poking one of the little green faces. Oikawa pouted. "Inoricchi~" he whined. "Don't be mean."

"How was I being mean? I was stating a fact." She quirked an eyebrow. "Are you saying you aren't a huge nerd?"

"I wouldn't say I'm a huge nerd. Geez, you sound like Iwa-chan." Yuna glanced around.

"Say, where is Iwaizumi, anyway?"

"Ah," Oikawa cleared his throat, "he couldn't make it. He sends his apologies." There was a small moment of silence, then he cleared his throat. "So it looks like it'll be just us. Is… is that okay?" He seemed almost pensive, but Yuna brushed the thought away.

"Why wouldn't it be? We're friends, too."

It's not like you're actually friends.

Yuna flinched. Stupid underclassman.

Oikawa grimaced. "Right. Friends. Of course."

He's just using you.

To keep the conversation from devolving into something weirder than it already was, Yuna suggested they go inside and get on with the exhibits. Oikawa insisted on paying her admission, though she adamantly (but politely) refused, he still won out and paid for their admission, the stubborn mule.

As they walked through the entry hall, Yuna looked up as sunlight streamed through the overhead tanks, reflecting off the schools of fish in rainbow colors. Her breath escaped in a soft gasp. After they passed through, the two students came face-to-face with a wall of water.

Yuna stood entranced as swarms of fish and creatures twisted and darted and danced. She placed a palm against the cool glass, hardly daring to breathe throughout the five-minute session. She turned to Oikawa to gush about the fish, only to find him already watching her. The blue light from the aquarium flickered over his features, highlighting the curve of his mouth, darkening the shadow of his jaw, glinting playfully across his eyes. Except there was nothing playful about the expression in those brown depths. The look he gave her was… exposing.

She shivered involuntarily. "Oikawa?" The setter blinked once then gently took hold of her elbow.

"Let's keep going."

Oikawa's strange mood didn't seem to let up. The farther they walked, the broodier he became. After making it to the second floor of exhibits with hardly a word spoken between them, Yuna had had about enough.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said shortly, not even sparing her a glance now.

"Are… are you having a good time?" She tried again. He'd kept pace with her throughout the aquarium, but he hadn't shown much interest in any of the exhibits since the first few tanks.

"Yeah. Great time."

You couldn't even stand to be in the same room together.

It's not like you're actually friends.

"Is it because Iwaizumi couldn't make it? I know we haven't spent much time together without him, but if you would like to go…"

"Leave it, Inoricchi. God, I told you, I'm fine." He finally looked at her and his gaze was so like that of the boy who had once hated her that her heart lurched painfully. She took a step back.

"I-I should go." Yuna began to walk away.

"Inoricchi-" He began.

"Don't worry about it, Oikawa. Like you said, it's fine. I never should have come." She sped up a bit, the blur of passing exhibits hardly registering through the inexplicable burn in her eyes. Even the view of the great tank from downstairs barely held her attention as she made her way through the rest of the building. She only paused when she came to a dimly lit hall labelled, "Communication Wall."

Communication, she scoffed. Why was it so hard for him to communicate with her? I just wanted to see if he was okay. Is that really too much trouble?

Yuna didn't realize that her delay had given Oikawa time to catch up with her. "Inoricchi…" He paused, gauging her reaction. She took a breath, steeling herself, before turning to face him again. "Don't leave." Her haphazard defenses quickly crumbled in the face of his apparent regret.

"It's really okay, Oikawa. I know you wanted Iwaizumi to be here. I guess I'm a poor substitute."

"Oh, for the love of- Iwaizumi was never coming!" He exclaimed.

What?

"Iwaizumi was never coming."

Oh. She had said that out loud.

"What do you mean, he was never coming?"

Oikawa huffed and ran a hand through his hair, and Yuna hated that she found the movement distracting. "I mean, I never invited him. I only asked you. You assumed Iwaizumi was coming, too."

"But-" Yuna thought back to earlier in the week and realized he was right; she had assumed Iwaizumi would show up with his captain. "Then what's been eating you? You've been acting weird all day!"

His gazed shuttered and she saw him withdraw slightly. "It's nothing." Yuna threw her hands in the air, turning, and scoffed in exasperation.

"Clearly not! Something is obviously bugging you and you won't tell me!" She faced him, searching his face for an answer. "If I was Iwaizumi, you would tell me," she accused softly.

"Well, you're not, now are you?" he snapped. Yuna pulled back as if stung. Oikawa reached out, contrite, his mouth open to apologize, but it was too late.

"What the hell, Oikawa?" She hated the way her voice wavered. "Why are you being like this…"

-tired of fighting with you-

-just using you-

-he'll never like you like that-

She'd had enough. This was too much. She couldn't fight anymore -she didn't want to, not with him.

"Oh," she said softly. "I get it now." She was so blind, seeing what wasn't there, what with his warm smiles and thoughtfulness… "This was all just an act, wasn't it? Is that what this was? Was I some great big joke to you? Some great revenge for whatever it is you think I did to you?"

If Yuna had been paying a tiny bit more attention to Oikawa, she would have caught the moment his expression shattered; just before carefully moulding into the cruel sneer that he reserved for enemies on the court.

"As if I'd waste the energy to plan something like that."

What was he saying? He needed to shut up.

"That would actually require me to spare you a thought, and I think we both know I don't have time for that."

shutupshutupshutupSHUTUP!

What are you doing, Tooru? Get a grip!

Tooru could physically see the moment Inori shut down. She stilled, her normally bright grey eyes clouding like winter thunderheads. Her hands -hands that had held his so warmly, hands that fluttered when she was nervous, hands that encouraged- curled into fists by her sides, her spine straightening as much as it could to make her seem taller. Even with her slender stature, she still managed to look down her nose in rage at him.

"Wow," she scoffed quietly. That was what scared him the most, her volume. Inori was boisterous with her opinions, especially around him; but this icy fury that rolled off of her frightened him much more than any of her previous fire-cracker spats. "You haven't changed at all, have you? You know, I always wondered what I did to make you hate me, but I'm realizing once again that you're just a petty brat."

Her words fell like acid on his heart, and somewhere deep down, held captive by the larger, more scared part of him, a voice was saying she didn't mean it, she was just hurt -but the scared part was hurt now, too, and like a wounded animal, he lashed out.

"Petty? Me? I wasn't the one backhandedly trying to steal someone else's best friend!"

"I knew it!" She said in bitter triumph. "This does have to do with Iwaizumi! When are you going to understand that I won't give him up? That I have just as much right to be his friend as you?"

I know that, Inoricchi, I do. I'm just so scared. I'm losing, Inoricchi, can't you see that? I'm losing volleyball, losing Iwa-chan, and now I'm going to lose you, too.

"If we're so equal then why'd you try to take him away?!"

"What are you talking about, Bakakawa?" Now he'd done it. He thought he was past this, but apparently you can't slap a bandaid on something that requires sutures.

"Don't try to play innocent, I know what you did," hissed Tooru.

"Stupid, I didn't do anything. That's the whole problem here!" Inori exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air again.

"Liar!" He roared. "You tried to get him to quit volleyball behind my back; I saw you!"

Inori stared at him in confused shock. "Oikawa, I think you've taken too many of Iwaizumi's spikes to the head because you have completely lost your mind! When has Iwaizumi ever wanted to do anything but play volleyball? When has he shown any modicum of disloyalty to your team? He's been at your side, on your side, since junior high, even when I…" Inori trailed off as realization and shock overtook her expression. She squinted up at him with a pained look. She whispered, "That's what this is about? Junior high? This whole time… Because you thought Iwaizumi was going to quit… and you thought I made him?" Her voice pitched at the end, threatening tears of betrayal. He hated that note in her voice, hated that he put that shine in her eyes that had nothing to do with joy.

"I thought you were trying to steal him from me!" He defended. "You wouldn't understand, Inoricchi. He was the only person outside of my family that I truly cared about. I had a team, but I was isolated. I wanted things. I worked harder than anyone, and no one understood, except him. It became worse when stupid Tobio-chan came along, because suddenly, working harder than everyone doesn't mean anything when you're a genius. But Iwa-chan was always there for me." The back of Tooru's throat burned, with bile or tears or both, he wasn't sure, but he did his best to choke it down and continue. "You wonder what you did to me to make me hate you? You wanna know just how badly you almost screwed me over? Can't you see, Inoricchi? I needed him. I needed him and you were trying to steal him from me!"

His shoulders heaved as he panted with frustration, realizing that at some point, he had leaned into Inori's personal space.

"Oh," she said softly, astonishment coloring that one word. "Oh my god, you- You and Iwaizumi- You're gay for each other… This whole time I thought-"

Tooru was given such whiplash by her statement that his brain spiraled into a frenzied panic to interrupt her before he could even really think about it. "What? No. Nononono- Well, yes, Iwa is gay, but I'm not! Technically, he's bi, but- but not for me! He's dating Tobio-chan! And they're very happy together!"

A break in the clouds.

"Tooru."

"I'm actually surprised I didn't see it sooner-"

A smile.

"Tooru~"

"-the only person he talks about more than you is Tobio-chan-"

"Tooru!"

"Huh?" Tooru was jarred from his thoughts, and oh- Oh. She was smiling at him. An honest-to-god smile that showed her teeth and reached all the way to her eyes.

"You're rambling," she said quietly. He just looked at her. She was so different now. Her hands stretched out to him gently, a forgotten attempt to get his attention. Her eyes were a bit red from her overflow of emotions and the once-stormy grey irises had receded back to their normal flashing quicksilver.

"Oh," he responded lamely. He felt… drained. All the feelings and baggage he had been carrying around for years -it was finally out in the open. He had tried -really tried- to let it go and be friends with her without it all exploding in his face. But that had just been slapping duct tape on a broken window: a temporary fix. And now he felt light… and a bit empty. Slowly, though, the longer he looked at her, the more that emptiness filled with something warm, something he hadn't fully had a chance to examine because it was always squashed and smothered by the past.

"He told me no, you know."

"What?"

Inori held herself and he was reminded that he wasn't the only one who had been hurting this whole time. "Iwaizumi," she continued. "He told me no. When I asked him to join the team, that is. His reasons are his own, but I knew it was a long shot to get him to join anyways. Tooru-" his name again, spoken so softly- "have you ever asked Iwaizumi why he plays volleyball?" He froze.

Have I? I haven't, not really. Isn't to win? That's what he said, right? He wants to win with me and the team? That he chose me…? Tooru stared at her in disbelief. She stepped forward and rested a hand on his arm.

"You need him because he's your friend, your teammate, and you care about him. But… he needs you, too."

Tooru dropped his head in shame. All this time, he had blamed this girl -this sweet, wonderful, caring girl- when all along he had let his own fear blind him. He was so scared of losing Iwaizumi that he didn't even think to trust his friend. To trust their friendship. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, guilt choking his vocal cords. "I'm so, so sorry, Inoricchi. I-"

Her hand brushed down his arm to his hand, where she carefully grasped his fingers, allowing for him to pull away if he chose. He gripped her fingers like a lifeline, not letting her get away again. "I'm sorry, too," she said with a light squeeze to his hand. "If I had just confronted you earlier about how you felt instead of fighting fire with fire, we might have avoided so much heartache."

Tooru finally raised his head. "Oh, Inoricchi, I'm so sorry, I was so scared of losing everything, and I almost lost you, too." She smiled at him again and he never wanted to make her do anything else but that.

"You won't lose me," Inori assured. "You and me? We were always headed here, Oikawa. One way or another, we were going to cross paths. It was inevitable. And now? We can move forward, to the end of our inevitable path, wherever that may be." She released his hand and he was loath to let it go. Just once, he wanted to hold onto her and not let go.

Oh. So that's what it is.

Inori turned from him slightly and let out a long, slow breath, likely releasing all of the residual emotions swirling around in her lungs. It was silent for a moment, but it was also still. And for once, Tooru didn't feel the need to fill it.

She looked over her shoulder with a wry smile and a raised eyebrow. "...He's dating Kageyama, huh?'

Tooru huffed a laugh and just like that, all was well. "You didn't know?" She shrugged and smirked.

"The only person he talks about is you."

He flashed a smirk of his own and joined her side as they began walking again. "You two talk about me?"

With a roll of her eyes she said, "As if you didn't know. Not like it hasn't been happening since junior high," she muttered. Their combined laughter rang out through the tanks of lethargic jellyfish, the only witnesses to the thoughtful captain and the delighted manager.

Aww look. They made up.

I fluffed it up in the last chapter, so of course I had to follow pattern and throw a wrench in the works here... but hey! I let them resolve it before the next chapter... Love me some sassy Inori and Ramblykawa, I'm glad y'all like them too.

And Iwa's secret is out now O/.\\O

Quick note, the aquarium is modeled after a real aquarium in Sendai, the Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium, and there are pictures on their website if you wanted to see a bit of what I envisioned for this chapter. Honestly, it was almost too perfect how well it fit, like it was just made for this story.

I'm not dead, just trying to finish/get into school, no big deal. I'm going to finish this story, I promise, we're in the home stretch now.

As always, major love and hugs to all of my new readers, favorites, and followers who jumped on the bandwagon while I was on unexpected hiatus. Huge shout out to my reviewers Arielle1406, purple-princess319, and Nova, you guys honestly kept me on track with this, knowing you like the story just as much as me. I still tear up whenever I read your sweet words. I hope the wait was a tiny bit worth it.