It was Oikawa's idea, of course. Well, drunk-Oikawa's idea to be exact which only made it worse. Or maybe not full drunk, more like tipsy.

Semantics aside, Hajime found himself neck-deep treading the chilly water of the dark pool in the middle of the night and wondering – once again – how come he suddenly became incapable of rational thinking when it came to Tooru.

It was their last weekend of the summer break. The first and second years of the team had organized a get-together, a farewell party of sorts, for the third years who would pack up their moving vans tomorrow and scatter off to university. It was the third years' night, they had been informed. Whatever they said would go, and the first and second years promised to take care of the possible (and very likely) clean-up, too.

Someone had managed to get beer and booze for the night, and they had sneaked into the gym with the drinks and snacks. In no time, they had come up with various volleyball-related drinking games which became more daring and inventive as they kept emptying the beer cans. When poor Kindaichi almost received Oikawa's monster serve with poor drunken accuracy with his face Hajime had called a timeout and sat everyone down with greasy snacks to soak up some of the booze.

Oikawa had called him 'mom' with drunken confidence, and Hajime had taken silent pleasure of knowing in how much of pain the idiot would be the next morning. Not to mention he would have to suffer through it on a plane halfway around the world.

Hajime had been accepted to Tokai University in Tokyo. Oikawa had been scouted by an American university and offered a volleyball scholarship. Full-ride. He had gone overseas for a couple of days with his parents on the summer break and come back with two pairs of plastic Mickey Mouse ears (one for him and one for Hajime), wearing a T-shirt with the university logo, and a pile of forms to fill.

His plane would leave tomorrow, but as if on some mutual decision neither of them had mentioned it the whole night.

"It's still pretty warm. I don't even need my jacket," Oikawa said and turned his flushed face towards the orange dawn of the sunset.

They were walking down the same shortcut they had taken hundreds, maybe even thousands of times together. The familiar sounds and smells filled Hajime with early nostalgia as if he was missing it all before it was even gone.

"I had a really great time tonight," Oikawa said with a sigh and suddenly clung to Hajime's arm.

"I hope we didn't leave too big of a mess behind. If the coach finds out the others will have hell to pay."

"Hmm, I'm sure they're gonna be fine," Oikawa mumbled and nuzzled the shoulder of Hajime's jacket with his eyes closed, "They'll be fine."

Something had been off with Oikawa lately. Hajime had caught him staring in the distance, deep in thought, but when he asked what was wrong, Oikawa would just give a small smile and dismiss him with some excuse. At first, Hajime had put it down to nerves. Oikawa was about to move half-way across the world all by himself so no wonder he was a bit preoccupied.

But after a while, he had started to think maybe this was something else, too. The way Oikawa spoke, the way he looked at Hajime, it all made him uneasy. It was almost like he was – well, not saying goodbye, per se – it felt more like…Hajime couldn't put his finger on it, but his gut told him it was never good news when Oikawa withdrew himself like this.

The thing about Tooru was that the guy was a like piece of wet soap. Whenever you thought you had finally figured him out, he slips off your fingers once again. Hajime had known him most of his life – which made him somewhat of an expert – but even he occasionally had trouble getting the truth out of him.

"Look, Iwa-chan, the old hole on the fence is still there!" Oikawa sprung to life and yanked Hajime out of his mullings. He tugged Hajime's hand and dragged him towards the wire-netting fence that surrounded the public pool next to the shortcut. "Remember how we always sneaked in after-hours? Come on, let's go for a skinny dip like old times!"

Hajime pulled his hand free and rolled his eyes. "Are you insane?! The water's freezing, and we're not breaking in."

"Come on, why nooot?" Oikawa whined.

"'Cause you're drunk and need to clear your head before your flight. Let's just go home."

A teasing smirk twisted Oikawa's lips and the early autumn sundown made his big brown eyes glint. His shoes dragged on the gravel as he backed away from Hajime.

"You're gonna have to catch me first."

Hajime sighed, tired and annoyed. "If you wanna go, then go, but I'm leaving."

"But what if I get a cramp and drown? Or hypothermia? You're willing to risk that, Iwa-chan?"

"Which is why I'm telling you no. Come on," Hajime held his hand out for Oikawa in hopes to lure him back with a promise of rare smack-free skinship, "let's get you home."

But Oikawa had that familiar look on his face that told Hajime he had had an idea and was not letting himself to be talked out of it. With surprising grace and balance considering the level of alcohol in his bloodstream, Oikawa spun around and wiggled through the tight slit on the fence to the other side. He was halfway down the gentle slope that led to the pool before Hajime's tired brain caught up.

"Damn it, Idiotkawa," he muttered angrily and crouched down to squeeze through the small opening. He made it back to his feet just in time to see Oikawa shedding his bag, sneakers, Aoba Johsai jacket and sweats on the side of the pool and heading towards the diving tower in his T-shirt and underwear.

"Oi!" Hajime called and carefully jogged down the slope. His shoes slipped on the grass slippery with night dew. Oikawa had almost reached the lowest platforms by the time Hajime reached the bottom of the tower. "Come down from there before you fall."

"No, I'm gonna jump."

"No, come on, you're too drunk for that," Hajime tried to reason. He grabbed the cold metal railing and hoisted himself up the first ladder. The pale blotch of Oikawa's T-shirt disappeared around the corner as he headed to the next level. "Hey, you listenin' to me?!"

"Don't be such a worry wart, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa's voice came from somewhere above Hajime now. "You've jumped from up there many times, how hard can it be? I'm gonna cross the big ten off my bucket list now."

"Do not jump from the ten, do you hear me? Oikawa!"

"Just stay there and keep watch!"

"Fine! You're gonna slip and fall and break your idiot neck, see if I care!" But the wind caught Hajime's angry shouting, and he was left fuming on the ground.

Soon Oikawa reached ten meters, and Hajime held his breath as he watched his head appear behind the platform to carefully peak down. He waved at Hajime and shouted something, but Hajime couldn't make out what he was saying. Probably something stupid. Then he disappeared again. When nothing happened for a while, Hajime sighed in relief that maybe Oikawa had gotten cold feet and was on his way down.

Wishful thinking.

In a flash, Oikawa dashed and leaped off the platform in a heap of flailing arms. The scream which split the air as soon as Oikawa's feet left the cement platform told Hajime he seriously regretted his choices, but it was too late to turn back. It took a surprisingly long time to reach the surface all the way up from ten meters, but you always eventually did, and Oikawa, too, hit the water with an impressive splash. He disappeared in the white whirlpool and sank deeper and deeper.

And then he stayed there.

Hajime shifted restlessly and stared hard at the dark blue water. He could make out the rippling shape of Oikawa's body underneath, but it was oddly still and in no hurry to resurface.

"Come on," Hajime mumbled. "Push yourself up, already, idiot. Come on."

Did the impact hit him too hard? Did he land in a bad position? Maybe he swallowed some water? Maybe –

"Damn it, Tooru," Hajime snapped, tossed his bag aside, hurriedly toed off his shoes and with suddenly shaking hands struggled out of his jacket.

He jumped off the edge of the pool and dived in with his arms reached above his head. The shock of the cold water took his breath away, and he damn near gasped and inhaled water. The chlorine stung in his eyes, but he locked Oikawa's body as his target and paddled the water with all his might. It felt like diving in sticky glue but finally, he reached Oikawa who floated unresponsive with his eyes closed. Hajime wrapped his arm around Oikawa's middle and used the bottom of the pool to spring up towards the surface. The strain on his muscles caused his lungs to scream for oxygen. If Hajime had thought it had taken forever to reach the bottom, the few meters back up took even longer than that.

As soon as they broke the surface, Hajime gasped for breath, and the sweet night air filled his lungs. With one arm, he began to paddle towards the edge of the pool when the limp body pressed against him suddenly came alive. Oikawa floundered and spluttered when droplets got sucked in his nose and mouth.

What the –

"Haha, got ya!" Oikawa said and wiped his wet hair back.

Panic was replaced with furious anger as Hajime stared at Oikawa's shit-eating grin and realization filled him.

"What the hell, Tooru?! You think that was funny?"

"Ah, sorry, sorry. I just couldn't resist the temptation. You should've seen your face."

Hajime glared at him and fought the urge to punch him unconscious. Let's see who will come to his rescue then.

"Fuck you," he snapped instead and turned around towards the dry land.

Oikawa's cold fingers caught his wrist and pulled him back. "Aww, come on, Iwa-chan. I'm sorry, okay?"

"Go die."

"I'm fine, okay? I'm sorry I made you worry."

Hajime threw another death glare at Oikawa but allowed himself to be anchored to him. They were so close their knees occasionally bumped together as they tread the water steadily. His whole body was shaking now with the aftershock of all the adrenalin rushing through his systems a moment ago.

"That was a shitty trick, Stupidkawa," Hajime pouted. "You scared the hell outta me."

"I know, I'm sorry," Oikawa said and had the sense to look a bit sheepish. "If it's any consolation, I was scared shitless, too, up there. I almost chickened out."

"Then why on earth were you so hell-bent on making the jump?"

"I don't know." Oikawa shrugged but wouldn't meet Hajime's eyes. "I just wanted to try it. I guess I thought this was my last chance to do it. With you."

Oh.

"Is that why you've been so weird lately?"

"What do you mean weird?"

"Don't play stupid with me. I've known you since forever, you think I don't have you figured out by now. You've acted like – like – well, weird. I don't know!"

"Doesn't really sound like you've figured me out." Oikawa tried to go for a grin which soon flattened into the sad little smile that Hajime had been seeing a lot lately. "But I guess you're right."

"So, what is it? You nervous about America?"

Oikawa skimmed the water with his hand absentmindedly. "Yeah, sure, I'm worried about all that. It's gonna be a big adjustment, a whole new world. But – ," he glanced at Hajime, a quick flicker of brown eyes before they sank to stare at the water again.

"But?"

"But…," Oikawa drawled. "There's something I haven't…" He drew a deep breath and suddenly met Hajime's eyes head-on. A few droplets of water glittered on his cheeks and long eyelashes, and the blue glow of the pool made his already fair skin even more pale.

"Tooru – "

"When I leave tomorrow, I don't know if I'm ever coming back," Oikawa said and whatever Hajime was about to say died on his lips. "Maybe that's where I'm supposed to stay instead of here. Maybe that's what it takes to get better and finally beat him. Or that's what – it's like I'm torn two ways. But – "

He let out a shaky breath and blinked at the twilight sky. Finally, he seemed to gain some self-control over whatever inner turmoil he was battling and faced Hajime with the same almost intimidating determination that was usually reserved for the volleyball court. Silently he closed the distance between them, and Hajime was so mesmerized by it all he barely flinched when Oikawa cupped his face between his palms and leaned in to softly press their cold lips together.

The kiss lasted mere seconds but shattered and confused Hajime's understanding of himself, Tooru, and their relationship.

"I'm sorry, Iwa-chan," Oikawa whispered and leaned his forehead against Hajime's, "but I've made up my mind."