As much as Oikawa was used to plastering on a fake smile and pretending everything was alright, the moment he saw Iwaizumi he froze, feeling a fury of emotions welling up as they made eye contact. Nonetheless, he composed himself enough to form a small smile in greeting as he addressed the spiky haired raven. His hair was shorter now, shorter than it had been when they were together, but it still looked good.
"Iwaizumi-san." Oikawa said politely as he finally forced himself to form a proper smile. "Long time no see."
As he spoke he watched Iwaizumi's expression carefully, trying his best to see if the other was just as shocked as he was. Unfortunately, all he saw was the slight frown that formed as Oikawa greeted him.
"You two know each other?" The pretty brunette beside Hajime asked and Oikawa finally turned his attention away from his ex.
"Yeah." Iwaizumi said. "We used to go to school together." He explained, handing one of the beers in his hand to Nakamura.
"Thanks, babe." Misaki responded as he leaned forward and gave the other a small kiss, before pulling away with a smile.
Oikawa slightly clenched his fist as he watched the exchange, knowing that it bothered him more than it should have.
"How long have you guys known each other?" Nakamura asked Oikawa as he drank his beer. "Hajime never talks about when he was younger."
Hesitating a bit, the setter glanced at the raven for a brief second before he spoke. "Ahh, since we were kids, it wasn't a very big neighbourhood."
Raising his eyebrows in surprise, the brunette frowned a little as he turned to his boyfriend. "Why am I hearing about this now? You never mentioned you had a childhood friend going to the same university as us, much less on the volleyball team?"
"Yes, I did, I said my high school captain was on the team." Iwaizumi explained to the now pouting man.
"Oh, you were the captain?! You must be amazing then, no wondering you're on the team." Nakamura praised as he nodded in understanding.
"No, I'm sure there were a lot of people just as capable to be captain, but thank you." Oikawa responded politely. The whole situation was becoming more awkward as the seconds passed by and the brunette franticly tried to find a way out.
"So, when's the last time you've guys seen one another?" Misaki asked suddenly and the Oikawa hesitated for a moment before he heard the raven across from him speak up.
"It's been awhile. You know how busy I've been. Plus, I'm sure Oikawa-kun has been too." Iwaizumi said casually.
Oikawa-kun. The name was so sickeningly unfamiliar to him that Tooru wondered if Iwaizumi remembered the last time he called him that. When they were in school it had always been some nickname that was more than an insult than a nickname. Once they had gotten together Iwaizumi kept the nicknames but settled for calling him Oikawa in public and Tooru in private. But now, hearing Oikawa-kun roll of the others tongue so effortlessly made him realize the past was the past, they were complete strangers now.
"Well, why don't you two catch up?" Nakamura suggested. "Besides I've seen a few people here I haven't talked to in awhile so I wanted to catch up as well."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I think Nanami is supposed to arrive any minute now." The brunette said as he looked around the room to see if he could spot the girl. "It was nice meeting you Oikawa, I'm sure we'll see each other around."
Nodding in response, the setter bid Nakamura a farewell. "You too."
The two silently watched as Misaki walked away, disappearing somewhere around the corner before they were left in silence. Tooru stood there for a few seconds puzzled as to why Iwaizumi hadn't protested when his boyfriend had suggested they catch up. What could they possibly catch up on? If it had been Oikawa he would have done everything in his power to avoid being left alone with Iwaizumi.
"How've you been?" Tooru finally asked, too unsettled by the silence.
"Are you really doing this Oikawa?" It caught the setter off guard.
"Doing what?"
"This." Iwaizumi gestured between the two of them. "Why are you acting like we are friends?"
"Aren't we?"
"When's the last time we talked?"
Oikawa frowned as he felt the reality of the question dawn on him. They hadn't spoken in months.
"It's not like I wasn't busy. With school and practice, you shouldn't expect me to have much free time." Oikawa defended himself, but knew he had angered the other when Iwaizumi gave him a pointed look.
"Don't blame this on me. Don't pretend that we're not talking because it's my fault."
Oikawa paused as he heard the words, trying his best reel in his own anger. Of course, he blamed Hajime. Their breakup had torn Tooru's heart to pieces because out of everyone in his life, he had never entertained the idea of Hajime leaving his side. They were supposed to spend the rest of their lives together, so why hadn't Hajime tried to work things out?
Why did he suddenly pull away?
Oikawa had his theories, some more believable than others, but one thing was for certain, they hadn't broken up just because they had grown apart. He hardly believed after nearly two decades together they could ever grow apart.
Looking back, he realized he was probably too scared to hear the truth. Had Hajime found someone better? Someone he loved more than Tooru at the time? Or had he simply fallen out of love?
"There's no point in bringing it up anyway. We can't change the past." Oikawa finally said as he dismissed the topic.
"Plus, it looks like you've been busy this past year." He said as he looked over to the pretty brunette, who was now across the room. The man was happily talking to one of his friends and the setter supressed the urge to frown at the cheerfulness in the others attitude. He wasn't jealous.
With narrowed eyes the raven ignored the comment. "Please Tooru, I doubt you haven't been with anyone since we ended things."
The accusation caught the brunette off guard.
As much as he liked to throw the comment back into the others face and tell him he'd been with plenty of guys better than Hajime, he knew he would be lying. It was probably hard to believe, but Oikawa didn't bother to attempt another relationship after they broke up. And one night stands never interested him. There had been a few times where he was close to throwing himself into a stranger's arms and attempt to forget about Iwaizumi for the night, but in the end, he hadn't been able to do it.
"Hmph, you know I've always been popular." He answered, neither confirming or denying anything. He expected there to be a snarky comment or sarcastic remark in response, but that wasn't what happened.
Instead, there was a long pause before Iwaizumi spoke again. "So, you're dating?"
"No. Although I don't see how that's any of your business." He replied honestly, knowing there was no point in lying about his love life. It was clear Iwaizumi had easily moved on with his life, there was no point in making up a fake boyfriend to get Hajime's attention.
"I guess it isn't anymore." Iwaizumi agreed as he drank his beer. "Just tell me one thing…"
"What?"
"When did you lose interest?"
It was back in middle school when Oikawa noticed the growing attention Iwaizumi was getting. At the time, the raven hair boy he grew up with was finally growing into a handsome young man and the people around them were certainly beginning to notice.
"Iwa-chan, what is that?" Oikawa asked as they changed their shoes. The taller body leaning over his best friend's shoulders to see a pretty pink envelope in his small locker. "Did someone accidently mix up the lockers?"
"Shut up, shittykawa." Iwaizumi snapped as he pulled the note out, reading the name that had been written nicely on the front. Iwaizumi-san.
Oikawa tried his best to see if there was any indication of who it was from, but before he knew it the spikey haired boy had pushed it into his school bag, zipping it up and slinging it over his shoulder.
"You're not going to open it?" Tooru said, feeling a bit of displeasure at Iwaizumi's actions.
"None of your business." Was all Oikawa got in response before the boy headed for the exit. "Now let's get home before your mom gets mad. She knows I'm having dinner at your house."
"Hmph, fine don't tell me." The brunette said as he quickly ran to catch up. He knew eventually the boy would cave and tell him. Besides, it wouldn't be that important if Iwaizumi hid it so fast. Maybe he wasn't interested? He'd find out his answer eventually.
It wasn't until a week later after practice did Oikawa finally find out about what had happened with the note.
"Iwaizumi-san, you were great today." A pretty brunette said as she waited by the gym doors, smiling as she saw the boy in question.
"Thanks, I just need to get changed and then we can leave." He said with a small smile before making his way towards the changing rooms with Tooru following silently behind.
"Iwa-chan, who was that?" The setter spoke up as they entered the locker room.
"She was the one that gave me the note last week." Iwaizumi started, as he slipped out of his uniform jersey. "After texting and talking for a bit we decided to hangout over the weekend. Her name's Yoshikawa Minami, she's in class C."
Oikawa paused with buttoning his uniform shirt and immediately looked up with a shocked expression. "You mean you dating her?"
"We've just been hanging out so far. I want to get to know her before I ask her out." Iwaizumi explained, ignoring his best friend's reaction to the news. Obviously, Oikawa was overreacting.
"Ask her out?" The brunette echoed, raising an eyebrow as he took a few steps forward. "Is Iwa-chan finally getting himself a girlfriend?" He teased.
"Shut up, idiot." Iwaizumi snapped as he finished changing, before he slammed the locker shut and walked towards the door. "I'm leaving first, don't wait up."
"Don't forget to smile Iwa-chan." Oikawa called out, "You don't want to scare her away."
When he heard the door shut in response the setter finally let out a sigh, slumping slightly as he quietly finished changing. Once he was done, he said his farewells to the remaining members in the locker room before heading home, all the while ignoring the bitter emotions he was feeling.
"Lose interest?" Oikawa asked, frowning at the cold look he was getting from the man. What was Iwaizumi getting at?
"You know what I mean." Iwaizumi continued, taking a small step forward to whisper his next few words. "When did you decide you were bored of everything?"
"Bored of everything?" Oikawa echoed again, this time catching onto what the man was asking. Was Iwaizumi serious? "You're asking me this after everything that happened? Was I the one that got bored?"
"Oh, come on. I've known you long enough to know you shift your attention to the next pretty thing that catches your eye." Iwaizumi accused with such a cold voice that Oikawa had to stop himself from flinching. "Or is your memory that selective that you forgot?"
The question confused the brunette, but Oikawa didn't have the chance to say anything at first as he noticed his classmate walking out of the kitchen with a few beers in his hand. Besides, if he started arguing with Hajime now, it would only bring up unwanted feeling he had tried his best to bury. Instead, he let a sly smile grace his face as he glared at the other man.
"My memories are decent enough to remember how good at lying you were. So, tell me…" Oikawa paused before asking something that had been on his mind the moment Nakamura had left them alone. "Why'd you lie to Nakamura? Did you not want him to know about us?"
"Us?" Iwaizumi said simply. "Why would I tell him about something that ended a long time ago."
"Hmm, that's a good idea." The setter agreed. "You wouldn't want him to worry about where his boyfriend is when he says he's busy, right? All you need to do is keep him satisfied enough to make him believe you're into him." Oikawa said, knowing he hit a nerve when the man glared at him.
"Oh, don't worry he's plenty satisfied." Iwaizumi said, leaning down to whisper his last few words. "You of all people should know that."
Oikawa stiffened as he felt the others breath on his ear as he heard the sinfully sexy voice. He didn't bother to say anything else as he watched his classmate approach them and before he knew Iwaizumi had pushed past him and headed in the direction of the pretty brunette from earlier.
"Sorry it took so long." Kitamoto said as he handed Oikawa the beer.
"Thank you." The volleyball player said with a forced smile before taking a long drink from the bottle.
"Woah, slow down there." A voice suddenly said from behind him and Tooru wasn't sure if he should feel relieved or annoyed that the owner of it finally decided to show his face. Turning his body, Oikawa took in the sight of a familiar cat like grin and glared at the man.
"Kuroo, where were you?"
"Nowhere." He said, walking forward to sling an arm around Oikawa's shoulders before whispering his next few words. "You're not the only one that was hoping to get lucky tonight." He said, motioning subtly towards his classmate.
"It's not like that." The setter hissed through gritted teeth as he pushed the other off of him. A moment later he took a few steps forward, back in ear shot of his classmate, before he smiled. "Kitamato-san, let me introduce you. This is Kuroo, he plays on the same team as me."
"Nice to meet you." The brunette said with a small smile.
"Same here. I'm glad Tooru's finally making some friends." The raven said with a sly smirk, before he placed a hand on the setter's waist and pulled him closer. "I get worried sometimes."
Oikawa supressed the urge to punch Kuroo in the face when he heard the words. He was about to tell the other to shut up but stopped when he heard Kitamoto speak.
"Are you guys…" The brunette asked, shifting his gaze between the two. "Together?"
A few seconds later Kuroo let out a chuckle as he let go of his friend's waist. "Oh, he wishes."
"Hmph, I'd never become that desperate." Oikawa retorted as he took another drink. "I have standards."
"Yeah, yeah." The man said, rolling his eyes at the comment. "Anyway, did you see anyone else tonight? I left the others for a bit, but I didn't realize there would be so many people, now I can't find them."
"No. I didn't see anyone." Oikawa lied. "Maybe we should look around? If that's alright with you?" He asked, feeling a bit bad about dragging his classmate around. He didn't want the man to follow his all evening if he didn't want to.
"I'm fine with it." Kitamoto nodded, "Besides, I think a few of my friends are here as well. We can look for them too."
"Alright, let's get out of here." Kuroo agreed before they exited the room to look for everyone.
It wasn't until an hour and few beers later did Oikawa start to feel a little better. They had managed to meet up with Akaashi and Bokuto as well as Kitamoto's friends after a little while of looking. Unfortunately, it didn't take long before Kitamoto was pulled away by one of his friends and Bokuto had wondered off somewhere with Akaashi, leaving behind Oikawa to handle Kuroo.
"Why am I stuck with you?" The setter asked, scowling as he watched his friend open another beer. They were back in the living room, leaning against a wall as they watched the groups of people around the room laugh and talk with one another.
"I'm not happy about it either. I was hoping to get laid tonight." The raven said, with a sly smile. "Although watching you sulk all night almost makes up for it."
"Fuck off." Oikawa snapped, not in the mood for Kuroo's tasteless taunts. He was about to tell the other to leave him alone when out of the corner of his eye he noticed something. Shifting his gaze, he watched as the brunette pulled the raven to the corner of the room, laughing slightly as he let his hands run through the short hair.
"You okay with that?" He heard Kuroo ask from beside him, handing him a beer. Oikawa rolled his eyes and took another look at the couple who were locked in kiss.
"It's not like they're serious." He said as he lifted the drink to his lips. "They're just fucking."