Thank you to all who favorited and followed this fanfic! There are already so many follows and favorites, thank you so, so much! :D
Lili : I love Oikawa, he's such a beautiful dork but then he get shis serious look and he's on the same level of hotness as Kuroo (and that's quite a high level!) Anyhow, *cough cough* we'll have some clues about what happened to Kiku little by ltitle -some already in this chapter - but it will be all cleared out later in the story! ^^
PaintCat : Well, that's the secret, kitty. I don't have time to sleep, eat or study. So I don't. Ok, I mostly don't STUDY - I always find time for sleep and food... but... ahah! ^^"
pinkdoughnuts : I think that this story might turn into an analyse of our society who only judges on appearances. It might get a bit serious at times just for that... But well, unfortunately, boys ARE pretty cruel with girls who aren't to their tastes...
Cooliceprincess : We'll know Oikawa's reasons (because he's got more than one, obviously) when Kijime will start to be a THING. ;)
CocoaFirefly : Boys are cruel - it must be in their genes (sorry, but all the bous I've ever met and interracted with only judge girls by their appearance so...) and Oikawa's reasons will be explained later on! ;) Iwa-chan will definitely find Kiku shining! ;D
VioletRyu : Kiku just isn't Makki's type, and because they're neighbors they know secrets from one another they don't want to know. It'll come back later on - mostly to embarrass and annoy Iwa-chan, with the compliments of his three annoying friends who are having the time of their life with this story! :D
FANFICTION
HAIKYUU! : QUIET WORDS
CHAPTER V : It Had Started with 'Good Morning'
"You amaze me and it's hard for me to turn away and make it not so obvious that I'm looking at you."
― Shailee J-N
"I didn't let myself think about my infatuation,because then I would have to acknowledge it."
― Amy Harmon, The Law of Moses
Akiyama Kiku was trying hard not to glance up at the man in front of her, across from the table. But she glanced up anyway.
Iwaizumi Hajime didn't notice her glance, too busy yawning while reading a book and taking notes about their paper. He glanced up when he sensed a gaze on him but Kiku looked down at her own notebook so quickly he didn't realize she had been staring. He only blinked and shook slightly his head, wondering why he'd glance at her.
She focused on her work, trying not to feel too nervous about the young man being so close – about a meter away but it was still way closer than she was used to.
They were in the library, working on their History paper. They had been studying for a while now and Iwaizumi's focus was starting to grow thin. He put his chin on his hand and glanced by the window at the baseball club running. It was Monday so the volleyball club didn't have any practice. He glanced back at Kiku who was writing quickly everything she deemed important for their paper.
"Oi," he called in a hushed voice as to not bother anyone else studying.
Kiku's body stiffened and she glanced up very quickly at him, wondering if he was calling her. She swallowed while he spoke up, used to her nervousness by now:
"I don't have club today but what about you? It's almost time for clubs to start." He said, knowing she went away for some unknown club everyday except Tuesday.
"T-there isn't… any club to… day…" She answered hesitantly.
She spoke even lower than usual, Hajime barely discerned her words.
"Ah…"
He hesitated, wondering if he should continue the conversation but Kiku looked back at her book and continued taking notes. He continued observing her curiously for a moment, sunlight going through the window, making her hair shine at every move. His eyes widened slightly and his heartbeat increased.
Her hair had copper reflections in the sunlight.
Sensing a gaze on her, Kiku glanced up and their eyes met. Hajime squeaked and looked away, blushing in embarrassment from both the staring and the squeak. He closed his eyes firmly, trying to ignore the curious stare she was giving him now. He swallowed hard and quickly opened his eyes, glancing in Kiku's direction.
He caught a sight of her smile. It was tiny and shy, her cheeks slightly blushed by the attention he had given her. Hajime's breath stopped while his heart missed a few beats. He couldn't help but stare at her rosy lips while she smiled innocently, almost incredulously. There was something incredibly pure and beautiful in her smile – it wasn't the big, bright smile she had showed him the other day, but it was just as pretty. He suddenly realized that he wanted to see her smile more. Smiling made her look so much more pretty and lively…
Kiku glanced at him once again but this time, when their gazes met, they both blushed and looked down like middle-schoolers across halls.
Hajime took his pen, trying to act natural and studious but the only thing he could think of was what had happened in the morning.
In the morning…
"Iwaizumi-san!"
He turned around when one of his classmate approached him. Fujioka Masami smiled at him in her sweet way. She was the Captain of the girls' tennis club and one of the most popular girls of Aoba Johsai – everyone half-expected Oikawa and her to be together and become the most perfect couple but for some reason, Oikawa had never seemed interested with the girl. When Iwaizumi had confronted his friend with it, Tooru had answered that Masami was too 'shallow' to his taste. Hajime never questioned him, he mostly didn't care about that girl whether she was shallow or not.
"Fujioka-san," He greeted with a nod of his head.
She put her hands behind her back to appear innocent but it was mostly to make her chest more imposing, taking a pose that was suggestive enough that even Iwaizumi understood she was flirting with him.
Flattered but not interested, he thought to himself, hands in his pockets and waiting for her to say whatever she had called him for.
"You're so not lucky to end up with Akiyama-chan for this History paper, Iwaizumi-san…" Fujioka started, making the young man raise an eyebrow.
"Why?" He asked, wondering once again what was everyone's problem with Kiku.
"Well… It's Akiyama Kiku…" Masami answered, insisting on the girl's name as if it explained everything.
"…And?" He continued, eyebrow still raised.
Masami chuckled as if he had said something funny or cute then she continued, tilting her head on a side to make her long hair fall over.
"You're so nice! As expected from you, Iwaizumi-san! But if you want, I could ask the teacher to change the pairs… It's not fair that you'd end up with Akiyama when she's so messed up. You'll end up with a bad grade just because of her and I know you're serious and wouldn't want of a bad grade…"
"Akiyama-san seems serious enough. I don't see how that'll be a problem," he answered even if he knew that when they'd have to present their paper to the class Kiku will definitely have trouble speaking.
"It's all right, Iwaizumi-san, you don't have to hide what you really think…" Masami continued, leaning forward in a secretive tone, "We all know about her…" She murmured with a nod.
"Well, I don't." He replied with a huff.
He was about to turn around and ignore whatever Masami would add but curiosity took over him and he narrowed slightly his eyes.
"Why is everyone avoiding her?" He asked, hoping he'd finally have an answer.
Masami looked surprised he wouldn't know but she glanced around to make sure Kiku wasn't here then continued in a hushed voice:
"Akiyama-chan… she needs to see a psychologist. There's something wrong in her head. She's been messed up like that even in Middle-School. She speaks to herself when she's all alone, sometimes she suddenly starts screaming… I've heard that all the people who have tried befriending her ended up at the hospital – she's attacked them! She's weird and dangerous that girl."
She huffed, frowning lightly before shaking her head in disbelief.
"I don't get why they keep letting her come at school when she could injure someone anytime…"
Iwaizumi didn't want to acknowledge these rumors. But he had to admit that Kiku was definitely acting weird sometimes – muttering to herself in class, being almost invisible, the demon-eyes she had had for a moment the other day… Still, school wouldn't let a potentially dangerous student coming so why was everyone acting so reluctant to get close to Kiku?
"I just hope she'll keep here hands off of you – even if I don't doubt you can handle yourself! Ahah!" Misamu continued with a wink before walking away.
Iwaizumi's thoughts were cut by a light tap on his forearm. He startled and looked back at Kiku who stared at him with wide eyes and opened lips, stunned by his reaction.
"Ah, uh, s-sorry…" He said apologetically.
But Kiku suddenly seemed unease. She looked away from him, her heart clenching lightly as she started gathering her books and stuff.
"I… I have to… to go…" She whispered.
"Ah, ok. Uh…" He hesitated, realizing he hadn't worked much on his own, "I have a practice match tomorrow so I can't come to the library but… I think I could cut some time on Wednesday…" He continued in a low voice.
Kiku seemed to hesitate as she put her stuff in her bag before nodding slowly.
"P-practice… match…" She answered, avoiding his gaze.
"I… uh… play volleyball…" He added, not knowing if she had just asked a question or not.
Kiku looked at him from the corner of her eye, not even hiding her stare. For a moment, Hajime thought that she was looking at him as if thinking 'I know that, big idiot' but she only nodded and stood up.
As soon as she was gone, Hajime sighed deeply and let his head fall on his notebook. He didn't realize it when they were interacting or silent but he felt so under pressure whenever he was around Kiku and she was acting weird.
"There's something wrong in her head."
"Tch…" Iwaizumi muttered to himself before collecting his own stuff.
He wouldn't work any more today so he decided to leave school. As he walked away from the table, he noticed something at Kiku's chair and stopped before leaning down. It was a tiny organizer and even if he knew he shouldn't have, he opened it. He went directly to this week's planning, reading lots of little things from Kiku's tiny handwriting.
Monday
No club
Help dad
Hospital at 6pm
Study with Iwa-chan
She calls me Iwa-chan? He thought to himself, raising an eyebrow, chuckling to himself in light amusement – no one dared calling him that apart from Oikawa.
Hajime reread the same sentence, wondering if the rumors about Kiku needing a medical and psychological attention were true.
Tuesday
Practice match VS Karasuno
Oikawa injured
Bring bento
Is she a fan of Oikawa? Does she stalk him or wants to offer him something? Is this why she knows I'm called Iwa-chan? He continued thinking.
There wasn't much written for the rest of the week but after turning a few pages, Iwaizumi noticed that she was marking lots of things about the volleyball club. Either that or stuff concerning her parents – it was always 'help' or 'groceries'. There were also lots of appointments at the hospital – almost every week…
The rumors might be true after all… But Hajime wasn't sure how to feel about that – was he scared? Definitely not. Was he freaked out? He couldn't tell. Was he suddenly uncomfortable around Kiku? Probably…
"I-wa-cha-n~" A voice whispered in his ear.
"GAAAAAH!" He shouted, jumping in alarm.
"Ssshhh!" The entire library immediately reacted, glaring daggers at Iwaizumi and a slightly stunned Oikawa who blinked at his friend's reaction.
"Oikawa! What the hell?!" Iwaizumi hissed, whipping around.
"SSSSHH!"
Hajime grabbed Tooru's arm and dragged him outside the library, half angry but still mostly scared after the fear he had given him.
"What the hell are you doing?! Why did you do that?! You freaked me out!" Iwaizumi hissed when they exited the library.
"Sorry, sorry~ I didn't think you would get so scared!" Oikawa answered, lifting up his hands in apology, "I saw you standing awkwardly so I went to see you – I thought you were supposed to study with Kiku-chan?" he asked.
"I was… She left for uh… she left somewhere?" Iwaizumi answered, still trying to control his frightened heart.
"What's this?" Oikawa asked when he saw the little organizer in his friend's hand.
Before Iwaizumi could react, the setter's hand reached for it and opened it.
"Wait–"
"Is that Kiku-chan's? Why did you have it? Oooh, is she going to come watch our practice match tomorrow? It's written in it? Hospital? What's this all about?" He kept asking.
Instead of answering, Iwaizumi snatched the organizer away from the setter's hands, glaring at his friend.
"It's none of your concern!"
"But you were the first one reading it!"
Unable to deny it, Iwaizumi huffed and put the organizer in his bag.
"Don't read it. Don't mention it. Just… don't. I'll give her back tomorrow, end of story."
"But aren't you curious?" Oikawa asked, following his friend as they walked back towards the entrance of the school.
"…Do you know the rumors about her?" Iwaizumi asked after a moment of silence.
Oikawa blinked and as they walked back home, the Ace explained to him everything he had heard from Masami in the morning. Tooru didn't answer right away, arms crossed over his chest and thinking deeply.
"Well… I didn't know about all of that…" He admitted, thinking back on Matsukawa and Hanamaki's intense objections when he had talked about pushing Kiku and Hajime together, "Why not ask her directly?" He continued with a smile.
"Ask her? Kiku– I mean– Akiyama?! No way I could ask her that! How would I sound like if I suddenly started asking her if she goes to the hospital for psychological treatment?!" Iwaizumi exclaimed.
"Mmm… You're right. You'd sound like a creeper." Oikawa admitted.
"That's not how I would sound like – also, you're the one saying that…?!"
"Let's ask Makki! He lives next to her! He probably knows!" Oikawa continued, completely ignoring Iwa-chan's comment.
Hajime only sighed while Tooru was already pulling out his phone to give a call to their friend. Not long after, Makki was answering and Oikawa was talking to him.
"Hellow, Makki~ It's Oikawa~"
"I know. I have read your name on the phone screen. What do you want?"
"Why do you sound so grumpy?! Aren't you glad I'm calling you?!"
"I was napping… what do you want? Is it an emergency because if it's not I'll go back to my nap…"
"Just a quick question – do you know if Kiku-chan has followed some psychological treatment or something? If she goes to the hospital?" Oikawa quickly asked while Iwaizumi leaned towards him to listen as well.
"You're still hanging on that…? Yeah she had, a few years ago. Dunno if she still does. Is that all?"
Oikawa glanced at Iwaizumi who nodded.
"It'll be all for the moment!"
The sound of the phone call ending abruptly made Oikawa blink before he glanced at his phone.
"Oh my, so grumpy…" He commented while Iwaizumi leaned away from him.
"What am I supposed to do with Akiyama now? I'm not supposed to know any of that…" Hajime muttered in embarrassment.
"Well… if everyone knows – you can just say you've heard from rumors. Also… does it really bother you that much?" Oikawa asked, tilting his head on a side.
Iwaizumi didn't know what to answer. It made him feel uncomfortable but he couldn't tell if it was everyone's behavior towards Kiku that might be growing on him. He understood that people might feel uncomfortable about Kiku if such rumors (apparently true?) were spread – heck, he was uncomfortable – but he didn't like the idea of keeping her away from everyone and everything just because of rumors.
"What bothers me is to see her so alone…" Iwaizumi finally answered, frowning at himself.
Satisfied by this answer, Oikawa smiled before throwing an arm around his friend's shoulders.
"That's what I thought. Why don't you try finding out the truth from her directly? In the worst case scenario… you'd find out the truth, you wouldn't be so disturbed by it and Kiku-chan would have opened up. In the best case scenario…"
Tooru's smile grew wider as he tapped his friend's shoulder.
"You'd have a new friend! And she would have a very good friend – and I know you're a good friend because you're my best friend!"
Hajime glanced at the Captain suspiciously, wondering once again if there wasn't some hidden goal from Oikawa.
"And in the absolute best scenario! You'd finally have a girlfriend!" He exclaimed cheerfully, laughing and taking a step away to look Iwa-chan's reactions closely.
"What?! No! No way!" Hajime shouted at once, cursing himself for blushing.
"Eh? Don't tell me she's not your type! You're looking at her the same way you looked at that girl you crushed on for two years in Middle-school! Until she rejected you and went with the soccer club's Captain…" Oikawa added thoughtfully.
"Thanks for the reminder." Iwaizumi grumbled.
"If you had talked to her before!"
"That's not the problem here! Don't change topic! I don't have a crush on Akiyama!" He exclaimed, but he was still blushing.
"I never said that you had a crush on Kiku-chan." Oikawa answered with a huge grin.
Hajime startled and blushed even more, silent and unable to find anything to answer to that.
Oikawa Tooru narrowed his eyes at Hajime, leaning forward and looking right into his green-gray eyes…
"Mmmm… but are you sure you don't have a crush on Kiku-chan?" He asked in a low voice.
Hajime opened and closed his lips, blushing even more while his heartbeats resonated in his temples.
"S-sure…" He squeaked, taking a step back.
"Really, really sure…?" Oikawa continued, staring at him as if he could read in his soul.
Hajime tried speaking, he tried denying it but he had been glancing and staring for so long at Akiyama. He had been gathering so many little things about her – heck, he had an entire list in his head… He was protective of the petite, shy girl and he hated seeing her so sad or lonely. He would never admit it outloud, but he found her incredibly cute and perhaps this was the real problem: he knew he would never have the courage to speak to the girl if he admitted to himself he found her cute and even worse, if he admitted he had a light crush on her…
Hajime froze completely realizing that the moment he had thought that, he was doomed. Knowing why he wouldn't admit his crush was realizing his crush.
His reaction was instantaneous: he whipped away from Oikawa, suddenly hiding his face behind his hands in the most complete, utter embarrassment in his entire life.
"Damn it, Oikawa!" He shouted, trying to hide his expression of panic.
"Oooh! I was right~?! I was right! Yay~ Iwa-chan has a crush~! Iwa-chan has a–"
"Shut up! It's way too! Don't! Say! WAH!" Hajime panicked, feeling as if his heart was trying to escape his chest.
"I knew your type of girl was short and cute!" Oikawa exclaimed to himself, "Kiku-chan fits perfectly for you!"
"Are you listening to me?!" Iwaizumi shouted angrily.
Instead of glaring at Tooru, he shook his hair and turned around, starting to pace in the middle of the street in slight panic.
Hajime had never been good with crushes – he'd get awkward around said-girls. He wasn't a Don Juan like Oikawa and it was obvious in every second spent near his crush. Every time he got a crush, he usually avoided the girl in panic and fear and embarrassment because what was he supposed to do exactly…?! until the girl either ignored him or he'd stop being weird around his crush.
He had wanted to focus on his studies and the volleyball club – he didn't want to have a crush now! Especially not with his seatmate who also happened to be his partner for a History paper and the shyest girl he knew! If he was so awkward around girls he crushed on – how worse would it get with this cute, shy one?!
Oikawa Tooru watched Hajime pace back and forth in panic, muttering to himself, almost ripping off his hair and cheeks so red it was a miracle he wasn't collapsing from a sudden fever.
"Umm… Iwa-chan?" He called hesitantly but he didn't seem to hear him at all.
"Raaaah! Damn it, damn it, damn it! What am I supposed to do…?! Change class? No, it's too late in the school year now and I wouldn't know how to do that…!"
"Iwa-chan?"
"I can't ignore her because of that History paper – perhaps I should ask the teacher to change the partner! And change of seat or–"
"Iwa-chan!"
Startling, Hajime suddenly froze before glancing at Oikawa who sighed and shook his head. He took a scolding look as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Are you seriously thinking about running away?" He asked calmly but his tone revealed that he didn't like his friend's reaction.
"What else am I supposed to do?!" Hajime cried out.
"NOT run away?" Tooru proposed in slight exasperation, "Iwa-chan, I know you're not comfortable with girls, and that you're more awkward than a blind owl in the forest around the ones you're crushing on – but is this really such a big deal? Nothing is going to change between Kiku-chan and you – she won't notice or even believe it even if you revealed your awkwardness so you don't have to panic. You have this paper to work on and honestly – it's a golden opportunity to get close to her!"
"Why would I do that?" Iwaizumi continued, hating to be scolded by his friend but unable to not look up at him in awe at the fact that he managed to remain calm in this drastic and terrible situation.
"UGH. To figure out if you really like her? To figure out if you would want to date her and–"
"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT?! I don't know this sort of things! HECK! I don't even know how to talk to girls and even less when I have a crush on them! You said it yourself! I'm a mess around girls! I'm not like you! I can't sweet talk my way out of things! The only thing that's going to happen is that I'm going to be unable to focus whenever she'll be around and our History mark will be ruined by both her shyness and my awkwardness! The whole class will realize it and they're probably going to tease Kiku because of me!" He screamed.
Astonished to hear him screaming so vehemently, Oikawa remained frozen and silent while a wide-eyed, frightened Hajime breathed hard as if he had just run a marathon.
"…Are you done freaking out?" Oikawa asked calmly after a pause.
Still breathing like a bull, Iwaizumi nodded before leaning forward, hands on his knees and nodding, suddenly feeling exhausted after his intense moment of panic.
"…How come you're such a weakling whenever it comes to girls while you can beat every other guy at pretty much everything in school?" Oikawa continued, slightly amused by his friend's reaction.
Panic and fear forgotten, Hajime turned a dark gaze at Oikawa to glare at him. Startling, being the one afraid now, Tooru quickly raised his hands:
"A-anyway! I'll help you out! I'll help you out deal with it, Iwa-chan!"
"No thanks. I can deal with it all right on my own." He grumbled.
"'Deal with it' isn't running away! Even if you could change seat or class! It's not any sweet girl you have a crush on – it's Akiyama Kiku! She's shy and awkward with people, no one stays around her – if you're not careful you might hurt her more than anything! What if she likes you? She'd be broken-hearted just because you freaked out!"
The realization fell on Iwaizumi that Oikawa was right. He couldn't avoid the girl. Not just because of that damn History paper. But because the only person who has been interacting with her (at least a little bit, though awkwardly) had been him. He couldn't bear to see her alone. He wouldn't bear to leave her alone.
"…What… should I do…?" Iwaizumi asked in a low voice.
"Uh?" Oikawa hesitated.
"What should I do?!" He cried out once again, "You're the one who understands people better than anyone! Analyze her! How am I supposed to act with her knowing that… that… that I-I have a c-crush on… Kiku… when she's… so shy and awkward with people… I don't want to hurt her! But I-I can't deal w-with all that for now!" He said, blushing in embarrassment to hear himself stammering.
Oikawa blinked in incredulity, not quite believing that his best friend, Iwaizumi Hajime, who was so wild and tough would turn into a stammering mess because of a crush – it wasn't the first time Hajime was reacting like that because of a crush but it was definitely the first time his reaction was so vivid, so panicked and that he wasn't running away from the truth immediately.
Waaah… He's got it worse than I thought… Tooru thought to himself with a smile.
Tooru took a step towards Hajime and put a hand on his shoulder in reassurance.
"Firstly, you're going to calm down – you'll take it one step at a time, ok, Iwa-chan? I think you might need to learn how to breath again because you're turning purple now. OK? Breath in… ok… breath out… Breath in–"
"Stop talking to me like an idiot. Also, am I really asking for your help?" Iwaizumi asked, already regretting his decision.
"Yes you're asking for my help. Let's go home, relax a little and then… we'll figure something out."
"…Ok…" Iwaizumi grunted, still blushing.
The way he had met and started noticing Kiku had been SO awkward – hitting her with her bag, trying not to get freaked out by her silent appearances and disappearances. But he had been so curious and he had noticed so many things about her that it only made him more and more curious day after day. Ever after learning that she might go regularly to the hospital, he didn't care because he just hated how lonely she looked. She needed a friend and even if he wasn't the best choice to be a girl's friend, and even less when he was crushing on said girl, Hajime decided that he'd try his absolute best to protect and care for this shy girl.
Even if it meant being the victim of infinite teasing from everyone, starting by his teammates.
A silent promise to Kiku that he'd try his best to not leave her alone no matter how scared he'd be of his own feelings. Hajime had been careful about Kiku from the very beginning, at their meeting. He had noticed things from the moment he's been sitting next to her. He had glanced at her from the moment she had been too hesitant to give her own name and he had read it on her notebook. He had probably been crushing on her since she had given him that little note that said 'good morning'.
Good morning… He thought to himself with a tiny, shy smile. It had all started with 'Good morning'…
I do hope that the crush isn't coming too fast - but it's only physical and curiosity for now, the emotional connection will start growing later, little by little~ Iwa-chan probably thinks that if he doesn't think about Kiku and the word 'crush' he wouldn't have said crush anymore... He's sweet - but I'm not going to let him have a peaceful dating experience (about 85% of the chaos that might ensue will be caused by Oikawa, though)
I really liked writing the chapter 6 so I can't wait to post it (FINALLY some pov on Kiku's part!)
NEXT CHAPTER : JUST A CRUSH (ahah, Iwa-chan all flushed, and embarrased, and crushing~ Too cute~)
Yours Truly,
May