The Way You See Me
Haikyuu! FanFiction - Oikawa X OC
A/N: Soo...I know I should be working on my other Haikyuu! Fic "Love is Not Extinct" because I am so behind my schedule but here I am writing a random oneshot instead. This week has been really crazy for me getting used to a new schedule with my unplanned puppy so that's really thrown everything off, but I still hope that you enjoy this none the less. And for those following Love is Not Extinct I am working on the next chapter I promise! Hopefully that will be up soon and I will get back to my normal weekly schedule. I got the idea for this out of the blue and just had to write it. Let me know what you think!
Iwaizumi Hajime was a third year and ace of the Volleyball Club at Aoba Johsai High - also known as Seijho. He spent most of his time practicing with his team and much of his free time with his team members, especially their captain, and his best friend, Oikawa Tōru. He was content with the way things were in his life right now. The team was working hard and he was sure that if they kept this up they would qualify for nationals.
As practice came to an end, Iwaizumi went over to the side of the court, sitting down with a heavy sigh as he lifted up his shirt to wipe the sweat from a long after school practice from his face. He was just starting to stretch when one of their taller teammates, a middle blocker with messy brown hair and thick eyebrows, came over, sitting next to him to do his own cooldown stretches.
"Has Oikawa seemed kind of off to you recently?" Matsukawa Issei asked as he lay on his back and brought his knee up, twisting his body to stretch out his lower back.
Iwaizumi looked back onto the court where the captain was tossing a volleyball up and down casually as he chatted with two of their first years, Kindaichi and Kunimi. "Off? He's always a little off. He is a weirdo."
Matsukawa chuckled with a smirk at the vice captain's harsh comments about his friend that were common and expected by everyone on the team. "I meant more off than normal." The spiker switched legs, rotating to the opposite side, "He has seemed kind of distant recently. Not that it's my business, but is something going on in his personal life that he hasn't talked about? You know him best, do you know what's going on?"
"Nothing that I am aware of," Iwaizumi answered honestly as he propped his knees up, resting one elbow on his knee as he took a long sip from his water bottle.
Thinking about it now, Iwaizumi realized that Oikawa had been a little more odd recently. For one, he wasn't hanging around Iwaizumi as much, not much less but enough to raise suspicion the last few weeks. Like normal, they would usually be the last ones to leave practice but, instead of going home together most days like normal, Oikawa often had something going on. At first he had thought nothing of it. Oikawa was meeting with his sister or had to take care of his nephew, or he had a group project to work on. Nothing out of the ordinary. But the more he thought about it the more weird it was how frequently things like this had been happening.
And he had been more spacey than normal too. Oikawa was no airhead. He was smart and a hard worker, even though he often came off as stuck up and a bit ditsy everything he did was fairly calculated. But the past month he had noticed more and more how the captain seemed to be lost in thought and not paying attention to the things around him. Sometimes he even ignored his fangirls who were trying to get his attention because he was so lost in thought. Though it was usually only for a brief moment before he put his normal charisma and charm back into play. Still, the more Iwaizumi thought about it the more weird his friend's behavior really seemed.
"Iwa-chan!" Oikawa called, jogging over to him just as he stood up, finishing his stretches. "My dear Iwa-chan, do me a favor will you?" His grin was too large as he winked and pressed his palms together in a pleading manner.
Iwaizumi grunted, eyeing his friend suspiciously. "And what will I get in return?"
Oikawa's shoulders drooped and he pouted looking offended. "Rude, Iwa-chan! Friends do favors for each other. I thought we were friends!" Despite the scene he was making, Iwaizumi, and all the team witnessing this interaction, knew that Oikawa wasn't truly that upset. He was just being melodramatic, like usual.
"What do you want, dumbass?" Iwaizumi ignored his pout.
"I need to run to the library, can you take charge of making sure everything gets cleaned up?" Oikawa perked up, smiling. Iwaizumi sighed.
"I can but why should I have to…"
He never got to finish his sentence as Oikawa cut him off, "Thanks you Iwa-chan! You're the best!" He put up two fingers in a victory sign with his same goofy smile and his tongue sticking out before he skipped off, humming merrily to himself as he headed towards the locker room to get changed.
"Oi! Get back here, bastard!" Iwaizumi clenched his fist and glared at the receding figure.
"I'll owe you!" Oikawa chirped as he headed out of the gym, his promise echoing as he disappeared. "I'll treat you to Agedashi Tofu next time we go out!." And just like that Oikawa was gone, Iwaizumi fuming at the spot where he had disappeared.
"Uh… Iwaizumi-san?" Yahaba Shigeru, a second year setter and pinch server on the team, asked as he walked over to join the vice captain who had just been abandoned. "Do you want us to start cleaning things up?"
Taking a deep breath, Iwaizumi sighed. "Yeah," was all he said as he turned and started to do his part of the cleanup, his mind running through all the possibilities of what could be going on with Oikawa. He would find out what was going on and his friend better have a good explanation for his behavior lately.
Once he was sure that all the duties for cleaning up the gym were being taken care of and after leaving the keys to lock up with Matsukawa, Iwaizumi hurried out of the gym and quickly changed before heading towards the library to see if this was really where his friend had been going and to find out why.
He jogged down the hall and turned the corner just in time to see Oikawa casually strutting along the now empty corridor before turning and going into the library, humming happily. So Iwaizumi, being careful so he was not spotted, followed his friend, hiding behind a bookshelf as Oikawa went towards the secluded study area in the very back of the library.
Sitting at one of the tables near the window was a girl dressed in their school uniform. She sat with her knees pulled up to her chest, her white coat draped over her legs to keep herself from showing an indecent amount of skin. The sleeves of her button-up shirt were rolled up to her elbows and her arms were wrapped around her legs as she rested her head on her knees. She had headphones in as she flipped through a book and took neat notes.
Iwaizumi was sure he had seen her around before but he wasn't sure where. She had long dark brown hair with a single streak of blonde under the left side of her bangs, all of which was gathered neatly in a braid that fell over her shoulder. She wore a pair of low profile, thin, silver rimmed glasses. Her dark blue eyes remained focused on the pages in front of her. With her headphone in she didn't even notice as Oikawa approached her.
Iwaizumi felt a bit concerned as he watched the brunette approach the unsuspecting female with a smirk that Iawaizumi knew all too well. Oikawa was plotting something.
But he wouldn't really do anything to the girl, right? Iwaizumi wondered to himself. Oikawa liked to tease and could be very self-centered and rather rude sometimes but he wasn't a hard-hearted or cruel person deep down. But Iwaizumi felt his confidence in his friend's nature waver as he came up next to the girl. He won't do anything…
Not comfortable enough to risk it, Iwaizumi stepped out and opened his mouth to call out to Oikawa, but his words never came as his throat dried up in shock at what he saw next.
Oikawa slammed his volleyball down on the table next to the girl's notes, causing her to jump and look up at him in surprise. With a slight frown she reached up, pulling the earbuds out of her ears.
"Hey you," Oikawa said with a menacing stare.
"Oikawa…" But she never finished what she was going to say as Oikawa's glare transformed into a goofy grin and he leaned down, kissing her, right on the lips.
And it wasn't just a little peck either. Iwaizumi watched, stunned, as Oikawa lips lingered on the girl's for a considerable amount of time before pulling back and smiling down at her as the girl, with a slight blush tinting her cheeks, smiled up at him with a small grin, one cheek dimpling as she did.
"Hello Suko-chan!" He pulled up a chair so that he could sit at the head of the table. With her legs up, Oikawa was able to stretch out his own legs as he got comfortable, taking his bag off and putting it and his volleyball down next to him before taking this girl's hand. Iwaizumi gained just enough presence of mind to slowly step back to where he was once again hidden behind the bookshelf to watch the couple in complete shock.
"Tōru," her voice was chastising but it had no effect because that same sweet smile was still on her face. "I can't write if you are holding my writing hand."
"Awe but Suko-chan!" Oikawa whined. "I haven't been able to see you all day!" He brought her hand up to his lips, kissing it softly before giving her his most charming of smiles. She chuckled but pulled her hand away from him anyway, patting his cheek when he pouted.
"I'm almost done with this then we can go, okay?" Oikawa shrugged but relented, leaning back in his chair as she continued her writing. "How was practice today?"
"Really good." Oikawa smiled. "Everyone is working really hard. I can't wait for the practice match coming up with Karasuno." An evil glint came to his eyes as he grinned at the thought.
The girl, Suko-chan, hummed in acknowledgment as she turned a page. "You just want to beat the team your old kōhai is on to rub it in."
"Well, of course!" Oikawa had to fight to keep his voice down so he wouldn't cause too much trouble and draw attention to them. "He really irritates me…" Oikawa folded his arms, brooding just at the thought of Kageyama Tobio.
Suko-chan reached up, brushing her fingers through the young man's hair and pushing it out of his face with a gentle, albit amused, smile. "You keep making that face and you are going to get wrinkles before you even get old."
"Mean, Suko-chan!" Oikawa whined as he leaned into her touch.
Iwaizumi shook his head and made his way back out of the library, trying to process this. What on earth had he just seen?...
The next few days Iwaizumi watched his friend like a hawk. He started to notice more clearly a pattern that he had overlooked before. Like how Oikawa would take a little too long during breaks in practice but he never saw him filling up his water bottle at the fountain like the rest of the team. Or how he suddenly made the connection that on the mornings that Oikawa was early to practice he would see that same girl from the library sitting by the window in a classroom on the second floor reading a book, at school way earlier than she needed to be for someone not participating in club activities.
On a particularly cold morning, Iwaizumi had caught up with his friend as he was heading towards the gym. Oikawa smiled and greeted him, looking like he was freezing. When Iwaizumi questioned why he wasn't wearing a scarf like he normally did he gave him some bull shit response about how he slept in and in his rush to get out of the house forgot to grab it.
He swore that the scarf the second year girl was wearing that day looked awfully familiar.
On the day of the practice match with Karasuno Oikawa missed most of the game due to an injury. "Hey, welcome back Oikawa," coach Irihara said as the captain came sauntering into the gym as if nothing were wrong. "How's that leg doing?"
"Never been better." Oikawa beamed, giving them the okay symbol with his hand. "Glad I could come back to practice now. It was just a tiny sprain." Iwaizumi just rolled his eyes at how nonchalant he was being about his injuries.
The coach voiced Iwaizumi's exact concerns. "Listen son, don't ever do that again. They brought Kageyama like we asked them to, so we can't just show up without our official setter. That would make us look bad."
"I'm sorry," Oikawa replied, reaching up to scratch the back of his head, for once actually looking slightly ashamed. That was until a group of fangirls watching from the balcony called out to him with their concerned squealing, when he turned and waved to them.
Iwaizumi's eye twitched as he watched the display. What the hell was going on with him… He could have sworn, from the display he had seen earlier, that his friend had a girlfriend but he was still acting like this around his fans? Iwaizumi had no idea what to think about all of it and he was frustrated that Oikawa was keeping secrets from him in the first place.
Oikawa walked over to the team with his hands in his pockets, acting cool as could be. "Sorry to leave you guys hanging while my leg was hurt but I'm back in the game now." He apologized to the team before turning his attention to the Karasuno players and waving. "Hey there! Long time no see Kageyama." Iwazumi had to resist rolling his eyes. Trying to play mind games already Oikawa? "How long has it been since I last saw you? You have really grown. How does it feel to be the King?"
Iwaizumi could tell that it took all Oikawa's focus not to lose his composure when his middle school kōhai ignored him and turned back to talk to his team.
"Now, get over there and warm up. And be extra thorough so you don't get yourself injured again." The coach interrupted Oikawa's internal seething and successfully got him focused back on the task at hand.
"Alright." He agreed, once again reaching up and scratching the back of his head as the fangirls above squealed and screamed. But Iwaizumi didn't miss the backward glance the captain gave to Karasuno's setter, and he also didn't miss when Oikawa's eyes flicked up to the balcony in a corner on the opposite side from the fangirls for just a split second before going to warm up, a satisfied grin on his face.
Iwaizumi followed his gaze and to his surprise he saw that same girl, the second year he assumed Oikawa was seeing. She was leaning against the railing, watching the court with a blank expression. She looked neither interested nor bored but attentive as the game started up once again.
It was then that he decided he needed to know more about this girl. Just who exactly was she? And what were her and Oikawa? Iwaizumi didn't like all these secrets and mysteries. He had never known his friend to be able to lie to him and it irked him that he was doing it now.
The opportunity presented itself the following week when Iawiazumi was out on a run to warm up for practice. He had been held up by a teacher after class and got a late start compared to the rest of the team, so he was by himself when he saw her walking just outside of the school grounds, likely heading home.
Speeding up slightly, he easily caught up to her. "Hey," he called out as he approached. When she didn't respond he realized she had headphones in. Reaching out, he gently tapped her shoulder to get her attention, causing her to jump slightly as she turned to face him, pulling her earbuds out. "Hey," he repeated.
"Uh, hello," she replied, a bit confused as she watched the volleyball player slow to a walk to meet her pace. Iwaizumi wondered if she knew who he was. She likely would, afterall she had been apparently watching their games. But he wondered if Oikawa ever talked about him to her. Just how close was his friend with this girl.
"You are a second year, right?"
"Yes." She tucked her headphones into her pocket as she realized that he was intending to have a full conversation, though it was clear on her face that she was still confused as to why. She wore her hair in twin pony-tails that rested over each of her shoulders and she was once again wearing that very familiar looking scarf. "I'm Ishida Etsuko, year two, class five."
Class five, Iwaizumi wracked his brain to think if he knew anyone from that class. Yahaba! That's right, one of the second years on their team was also in that class. Maybe he could get more information from him. Class five was a college prep class, so she was obviously pretty smart, or at least studious. And that fit with what he had observed of her for the last few days. How had Oikawa and a girl like this met? She wasn't part of his fan club. Iwaizumi had had far too many encounters with the raging group of teenage girls so he knew who was a part of it by now.
"Ishida-san." He nodded. "One of our club members is in that class."
"Mmmhmm." She hummed with a little smile. "Yahaba Shigeru is part of my class. Umm...is there a reason that you stopped to talk to me?" Her words were not harsh, simply curious but straight to the point.
"Nothing in particular," he half lied. "I've just noticed you around a lot recently. You've started coming to see our matches for the past few weeks."
"I've come to see all the volleyball club's matches since the beginning of the year, Iwaizumi-san."
Iwaizumi had to force himself not to stop walking when she admitted that. Had she been there all year and he just didn't notice until he saw her with Oikawa? It was true that he tended to pay much closer attention to the girls who were around Oikawa out of concern that the captain would get distracted. And this girl didn't really stand out much. She had that blonde streak in her hair but otherwise she was very normal.
"Ah," he tried not to sound too embarrassed. "My bad. I'm sorry that I never noticed till now."
"It's not a big deal." She adjusted her backpack, looking forward once more. "You are supposed to be focusing on the game so it's not that surprising that you didn't notice one particular person out of the crowd of people who come to support the team."
"True. Well thank you for your support. The team appreciates it." He looked over and watched as she nodded with a small smile that seemed almost amused at his statement. "I'm curious though, what made you start coming to see our matches? You said since the beginning of the year, so you didn't go to see them during your first year?"
"No, I didn't until this year," she replied and Iwaizumi didn't fail to notice that she skipped over answering what her reasoning for starting to come this year was.
"Do you come to see Yahaba play?"
Ishida looked up at him and blinked. "No. I talk to Yahaba sometimes in class but I wouldn't say that we are that close or anything."
"Then why…"
He was cut off when she stopped walking as they came to an intersection and pointed to their left. "Shouldn't you be going that way like the rest of your team?" Iwaizumi scrunched his brows together confused at how she knew the route before he looked to their left and he could clearly see the answer.
Just a little ways up the street he could see none other than Oikawa himself, having been stopped on his run by a group of four girls who were fawning over him, pining for his attention. He sighed at the sight before looking back to see how Ishida was reacting. But to his surprise she seemed unphased, as she was in the process of putting her headphones back in.
"Enjoy the rest of your run Iwaizumi-san." She looked up at him and smiled. "And good look with your practice match tonight." Then without another word she stepped off the curb and crossed the street, continuing to head home.
Shaking his head, he forced himself to turn to the root of his problems, glaring at Oikawa before he started jogging towards him. "Oi! Shittykawa! You are supposed to be running, dumbass!"
He watched in silent amusement as Oikawa's face fell and he backed up from the girls. "Sorry ladies!" He winked at them. "I better get going. I am captain, you know, I need to set a good example." Then he turned and started to jog off at a much faster pace than normal.
"Don't think that running away from me is going to save you Crappykawa," Iwaizumi yelled as he picked up his speed to catch up to him.
"Mean Iwa-chan!" Oikawa yelled back as he picked up speed, hoping to stay out of Iwaizumi's range. "Always calling me such hurtful names!"
"Get back here you piece of shit!" he raged,` moving in a full on sprint before tackling his annoying friend to the ground while he squeaked for someone to save him.
"Oikawa…"
Iwaizumi froze. He had been coming up the stairs and was about to turn into the hallway of the third year classrooms when he had heard the voice which he now recognized as Ishida. Carefully, he peeked around the corner to see what was going on.
Leaning with her back up against the wall, Ishida had her arms around the much taller Oikawa, who was currently holding her tightly with his arms wrapped around her waist and his face buried in the crook of her neck.
"Just for a few minutes please…" Oikawa said and Iwazumi frowned. The tone in his voice was not what he had expected. It wasn't haughty or cheerful but serious and almost a bit hopeless. "Everyone has left for the day, it will be fine."
Ishida slowly lifted one hand, gently running her fingers through his hair. "Tōru," she whispered gently, her words full of concern. "What happened?"
"Nothing." Oikawa's arms tightened around her, pulling her closer to him. "Nothing really happened, I'm just having a bad day. I was having a hard time focusing in class and my leg is killing me today, and I just missed you. I missed you this weekend and I haven't seen you all day and I just needed to see you."
Pulling back slightly, Ishida forced Oikawa to look down at her as she put her hand on his cheek gently. "Stop trying to be perfect at everything. You are pushing yourself too hard and you are going to burn out. If your leg has been hurting you you should have taken it easy today and I bet you still put in all your effort in practice despite that."
A sheepish and guilty grin played at the corner of Oikawa's lips before it rose into a weak but genuine smile. Leaning down, he pressed his forehead against hers and their noses brushed, causing her lips to split into a smile as well before she rolled onto balls of her feet so their lips could meet and kissed him softly. Oikawa once again tightened his arms around her waist and pressed her back against the wall as he returned the kiss.
Iwaizumi turned away, leaning on the wall in the stairwell with a thoughtful frown. When he had first discovered Oikawa's secret he was angry that he didn't trust him and annoyed that he was skipping out on some of his duties for this. Though he still wished that his friend had trusted him enough to tell him, he found it hard to stay mad at him when he saw how they were together.
Oikawa had been through a lot in his life. Looking from the outside you wouldn't know it but he has been through a lot of personal struggles and there were very few people who he confided in about his fears and shortcomings. But this girl, though he still didn't know how they had met and become this close, she was someone who Oikawa was completely himself with. Iwaizumi had seen it many times. In the library that first day when he whined and complained about Kageyama, his tender and caring side when he gave his scarf up for her to be warm, and this side, his vulnerable side where he admits he isn't strong and that he is struggling with things and just wants comfort and love.
Folding his arms, Iwaizumi smiled to himself before pushing up off against the wall and starting to walk back down the stairs. However they met, and whatever the reasons Oikawa had for not telling him about her, Iwaizumi was glad that he had Ishida and he hoped that she would stay.
