A/N: This story has been sitting in my drafts for a long time and because I want to get more into writing, I am finally starting to post it. I don't have this fic completed, but I have most of it planned out and a fair amount has already been written. I will be cross-posting this story on AO3 under the username crystal_stories. This fic is rated M due to the following: misogyny, language, implications of the following: sexual activities, depression, and anxiety. I hope that you enjoy this chapter and the story.
Oikawa was in trouble. Big trouble. He knew this when he had heard his agent barge into his bachelor pad, ripping the curtains of his bedroom window open to let harsh sunlight into his room and making no effort to talk quietly as Oikawa yet again tried to work through another hangover.
"Get up," his agent seethed. Oikawa rolled around his dark silk bed sheets and smashed his face into his pillow. He had no interest in having this conversation, again.
"Mmrph," Oikawa attempted to speak through through his pillow; his agent rolled his eyes and silently complained to himself that he was not paid enough to be Oikawa's babysitter.
His agent pulled on the blankets to strip Oikawa of the warmth.
"Aack!" Oikawa shrunk into himself at the sudden rush of cold and rolled over to glare at his agent.
"You're mean, Iwa-chan," Oikawa pouted. He ran his fingers through his brown hair, but remained lying down on his bed. If Iwaizumi wanted him out of bed, he would have to forcibly remove him.
"I'm surprised," Iwaizumi said as he studied Oikawa. "There isn't anyone in bed with you this time. Did she not meet your standards?" Iwaizumi mocked.
"It's too early to be this mean to me, Iwa-chan," Oikawa complained. "Come by in the afternoon."
"It's 2:36pm," Iwaizumi replied with a quick glance at his watch. "And you never answered my question, Shittykawa."
Oikawa wanted to retort with another complaint, but it seemed like his best friend/agent had no patience for Oikawa's antiques.
"She was weird," Oikawa said as he slowly sat up on his king size bed. He leaned his head against the headboard and closed his eyes from the pain of too much sunlight.
Iwaizumi scoffed and pulled out his phone to check a notification that he had received. "Normally you're the weird one."
Oikawa retaliated by throwing one of his pillows at Iwaizumi. Unfortunately for him, his agent did not appreciate the toss and quickly stalked towards Oikawa with a hard glare on his face. Oikawa was still too hungover to have a decent reaction time and as a result he received a painful smack to his head.
"You reek," Iwaizumi said with a sniff. "Take a shower and get dressed."
Oikawa rubbed the spot where Iwaizumi smacked him and huffed. "Why?"
Iwaizumi sighed and wished that his friend was better at making decisions outside of his career.
"You fucked up this time, Oikawa. They won't stand back anymore," Iwaizumi replied.
"They?" Oikawa questioned with a tilt of his head.
"Your coach, your PR agent, the team," Iwaizumi listed.
"And you?"
Iwaizumi pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, again. "Just get ready. You have a meeting with your coach, the new PR agent, and me."
Oikawa nodded his head and got up from his bed and went to the ensuite bathroom to wash off the lingering smell of his late night adventure. Even after a warm shower and a fresh set of clothes, Oikawa still felt sluggish.
"Your shirt's inside out," Iwaizumi commented after Oikawa entered the living room. Oikawa wanted to face palm, but he was sure that that would aggravate the ongoing hangover that he was suffering through.
"Thanks," Oikawa muttered as he removed his black t-shirt so that he could fix the folds. After adjusting his shirt and smoothing his dark wash jeans, Oikawa looked up to see a glass of water and a post-hangover meal were placed on the glass coffee table in front of the couch that Iwaizumi sat on. "Is that for me, Iwa-chan?"
Iwaizumi nodded. Oikawa smiled and sat next to him. He knew that Iwaizumi wasn't the type of person to be affectionate with his words, but his actions were more than enough to let Oikawa know that his best friend cared for him, even when he was being a pain in the ass. "Don't take too much time eating, Shittykawa. We aren't going to be late to that meeting."
"Yes, Mom," Oikawa replied in a sing-song voice, which earned him a well-earned smack on the head.
As agreed upon, Oikawa quickly finished his meal and after finishing the last steps of his "get-ready" routine, he was out the door with Iwaizumi for the meeting. Oikawa could already predict how this meeting would play out. His coach would chew him out for his reckless behavior, the new PR agent that he had yet to meet would struggle to find their groove in their new job, and his agent/best friend would give him a hard stare. It would all end up being a silly slap on the wrist that Oikawa would quickly forget about. This wasn't the first time that he went out drinking excessively and partying. In fact, last night was rather tame considering the fact that he didn't take anyone home. Oikawa was getting bored and his reckless behavior was a result of his boredom. He needed something more, but he couldn't find what he needed.
"We're here," Iwaizumi said, pulling Oikawa out of his thoughts. Iwaizumi exited from the driver's seat and Oikawa followed from the passenger's side.
"This place, again?" Oikawa complained. Iwaizumi handed the keys to the car to the valet in front of the obscenely luxurious hotel.
"Yes, this place," he replied. "Their security here is tight and we will have all the privacy we need to discuss the next step."
"The next step?" Oikawa asked in confusion after they entered the hotel.
"Yes, the next step. You seriously didn't think that this meeting was going to be like the others?" Iwaizumi said as they both walked in sync to the nearest elevator. "You've made some progress, but you've really messed with your image." Silence hung in the air as they entered the elevator and Oikawa wished that he hadn't been forced into this meeting. Just before the elevator arrived at the 15th floor, Iwaizumi spoke up. "You can do better than this. You can be better than this."
Oikawa was stunned at his best friend's words and almost forgot to exit the elevator when it reached the 15th floor. It wasn't often that Iwaizumi said something like that. Normally Oikawa would scoff and retort with asking Iwaizumi if he was his mom, but he couldn't bring himself to speak up. He wanted to snap at Iwaizumi, but the regret in his best friend's voice stung.
Oikawa's volleyball coach and his newly hired PR agent were waiting in a small conference room. Both of them had been chatting as Oikawa and Iwaizumi entered the room. The first thing that caught Oikawa's eye was the beauty of his new PR agent. He wondered if she would be interested in spending more time with him outside of work.
Before Oikawa could make his advances, Iwaizumi pulled aggressively on the back of his shirt, which caused him to slightly fall back. "Don't," he hissed. "She was hard to find, because no one is willing to be a PR agent for the volleyball world's hottest mess."
"You think I'm hot?" Oikawa asked with a playful glint in his eyes.
Iwaizumi's eyes widened and for a moment, his posture slackened before he smacked Oikawa on the back of his head.
"Ow, Iwa-chan. That's the third time today," Oikawa whined as he approached the table that the coach and PR agent sat at.
"Maybe you should say less stupid shit, Shittykawa," Iwaizumi mutterd.
"Let's get started, you two," the coach said before both of them could continue bickering. Oikawa and Iwaizumi sat next to each other, with the PR agent and the coach sitting next to each other. "I believe you haven't met yet," he continued to say, gesturing at the agent. "This is Kiyoko Shimizu, your new PR agent."
"Nice to meet you," she quietly said with a bow of her head. Oikawa was in awe of her. She was very beautiful, with above-the-shoulder length black hair, gray eyes, and a cute mole by her mouth. Based on appearance alone she was definitely his type, but with a harsh jab from his best friend's elbow, Oikawa stopped staring and finally spoke up with an all-too-pleased smile on his lips.
"It's nice to meet you, Kiyoko-chan. I'm sure we will get along very well," Oikawa replied.
"Shimizu would be just fine, Oikawa-san," she said quietly, yet firmly. He blinked in surprise at her correction and if his coach and Iwaizumi weren't here, he would have tried flirting with her some more, but the look in his coach's eyes told him that funny business would not be tolerated today.
Oikawa averted his gaze and looked at the table to see a tablet in front of the coach and a black planner in front of Shimizu. The coach turned on the tablet and after entering the pass code, Oikawa saw an article take up the screen. He couldn't quite see the article, but he noticed his name in the article. This couldn't be good.
"This is the second article this month, Oikawa," his coach said. Oikawa's eyes widened. He couldn't believe that he was called in just because that was the second article to come out about him in a month. "Don't be so surprised. We could have sat on our thumbs and waited for more gossip articles to be published about you, but this needs to be addressed now."
"It was just a party, Coach," Oikawa replied while waving around his hand.
"I wouldn't mind it so much, if it weren't for the fact that there are pictures of you looking obviously drunk and being 'friendly' with several women," his coach said. Iwaizumi wanted to laugh at the coach's "friendly" comment, but he kept that to himself. He had already given Oikawa a hard enough time today and although more teasing was to be expected on his part later today, he didn't want to make light of the situation.
"I'm not doing anything illegal," Oikawa replied as he scanned the gossip article that was written about him.
"That may be, but people are reluctant to buy tickets to see athletes that don't meet their standards," Shimizu stated.
"You're an amazing setter, Oikawa, but the way you spend your time off the court isn't right. I'm not going to force you to get the help you need, but the one thing I will do is to ask you to start cleaning up your image. Bad press isn't just about you. It's about the team."
"What are you suggesting, Coach?" Iwaizumi interjected as Oikawa pondered over what his coach had said.
"Well, I am not the one who came up with this. Shimizu has come up with a plan to start Oikawa on a path to a better image," the coach explained. "That is, if he is willing to take that first step."
All eyes turned to Oikawa as he thought about his coach's words. He didn't like people interfering in his life when he didn't ask for it. Ideally he would walk away from this meeting and nothing would change, but these conditions weren't ideal. He knew that if he brushed off his coach now, more extreme measures would be taken.
Iwaizumi could tell that Oikawa had a lot running through his mind by the way Oikawa's eyes focused on the tablet and from his knee restlessly bouncing up and down.
"What is the plan, Shimizu-san?" Iwaizumi asked.
"The plan is to hold a contest," Shimizu explained, opening her planner and flipping to a page that contained notes on what Iwaizumi assumed to be her plan to help Oikawa on the path for an improved public image. "Specifically we'd be hosting a contest where people can apply to win a date with Oikawa-san."
Oikawa's eyes widened at his PR agent's words and before he could passionately protest the idea, Shimizu continued speaking quickly. "We would aggressively vet the winner before they go on a date with you," she assured. "I know at first glance the whole ordeal seems preposterous, but this has proven to work. Ushijima's team held a contest like this last year and it was very successful."
Iwaizumi snorted as he vaguely remembered members from the Schweiden Alder's team doing a special Valentine's Day event where a lucky fan could go on a date with a member of that team. He recalled how the team's already high approval rating went up and all of the team managed to snag more advertising deals with several big companies.
"If the stale bread that is Ushijima can see an improvement in his public image with a dating contest, then Oikawa's image should improve," Iwaizumi said.
"Should?" Oikawa questioned.
"Yes, should. You'll need to be on your best behavior if this is to work," Iwaizumi replied. Shimizu nodded her head in agreement and continued to explain all of the details.
Oikawa didn't like being cornered like this, but going on one date would not ruin his world. It would only be for one night and Iwaizumi was right, as long as he played his part then he would see an increase in positive comments on his public image. With a better image, would come less meetings like this.
By the end of the meeting, a date had been set for the beginning and end for applications for the contest. It was decided that Oikawa wouldn't have any say on who he would be going on a date with, and he hoped that Shimizu wouldn't have him sit through a dinner with an obsessive fangirl. He already had enough of those in high school. The only thing that Oikawa was allowed to choose was the restaurant that he'd be going to with his not-yet-determined date.
That night, as Oikawa started to fall into the realm of dreams, his thoughts played through countless scenarios centered around the contest. Every possible tragic way that the whole thing could go down played in his mind like an endless movie. He really didn't want to do this.