Work Text:
“Did you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“Iwaizumi has a girlfriend.”
“Iwaizumi has a girlfriend?”
“Yes! Everyone’s been talking about it.”
“I didn’t know the guy was even capable of love.”
“Neither did I, but get this-”
“Oh?”
“The girl looks exactly like Oikawa.”
“...what? What do you mean?”
---
Gossip swirling regardless, Matsukawa hadn’t really been paying so much attention to what Iwaiumi may or may not be doing with the captain of the girls’ basketball team. In fact, Matsukawa hadn’t even been aware they had a basketball team until suddenly everyone was talking about how lucky Iwaizumi was, because apparently this girl was like, the girl of the school. Like, popular enough that Mattsun was not quite sure if Iwa was safe from retribution from the boys’ basketball team for taking their princess.
But beyond that, he was sort of just passively proud of one of his friends for scoring a hot girlfriend and honestly he’d sort of expected that to be the end of it.
Until she came into practice to drop off a textbook he had left at her house.
Makki hits him in the chest.
“Oh my god,” he says, nodding to the doors to the gym they were practicing in.
She was… maybe 5’11, very tall for a girl and placing her just slightly taller than Iwaizumi even, which, for someone so often complaining about not hitting a second growth spurt and who had previously wholeheartedly asserted he liked short girls, was surprising. Though, he supposed, she was a basketball player, so it wasn’t so surprising. What’s most notable, however, is everything else about it. Unblemished skin and soft, pale brown hair that she’s cut in a boyish short of style and swept over her forehead. With her Aoba Johsai sport’s jacket in blue and white over her shoulders, well…
“She… she’s like an Oikawa with boobs,” Mattsun says, unable to stop the horror that creeps into his voice, as he watches Iwaizumi notice her and trot across the gym to greet her.
“I thought people were kidding,” Makki replies. “Surely he noticed, right?”
“...does he?” Mattsun says, watching Iwaizumi kiss her cheek and thank her for dropping off the forgotten book.
“I… I don’t know,” Makki replies, before turning his attention to where Oikawa was waiting for his stretching partner to return. “Does Oikawa notice? Oh my god, what does Oikawa think?”
“I… uh…”
The girlfriend seems to notice them there, smiling slightly and wiggling her fingers in hello at their staring, before wishing an inaudible goodbye to Iwa and slipping out of the gym to head to her own morning practice.
Iwaizumi puts his stuff away, and then wanders over to Oikawa as if nothing was weird, and Oikawa seems unbothered. If anything, Mattsun notices him grin and punch at Iwa’s shoulder, exactly how you would if you were razzing a friend about their hot new girlfriend. You know. One that didn’t look like your doppelganger.
---
Makki and Mattsun team up after practice to chase down Oikawa before he leaves the locker room, crowding in on either side, waiting until Iwaizumi was fully out of the room to lower their voices and say:
“Hey, Oikawa…”
They watch Oikawa prick up on immediate alert, and mentally kick themselves for having developed a relationship in which even approaching him put him on edge for some kind of favour, insult or otherwise malicious intent. Or, perhaps, they both reason, with a glance at each other, Oikawa was known for his hyper-perceptive interpersonal skills.
So he must have noticed.
“What is it you two want?” Oikawa says, looking between them.
“Nothing, nothing, just… you know, wondering what you thought of Iwa’s new girlfriend… we haven’t met her properly, but… figured as his… best friend, you’d know a bit more…?”
And to their surprise, instead of seeing any of the concern or alarm or weirdness in his demeanour, they see him prick up with delight and excitement.
“Agawa?” he says. “Oh, she’s awesome. I was always afraid that Iwa would find a girl that was so annoying, you know, like a real bitch type, but she’s amazing. We’ve invented a new game called hellball in which you play basketball with a volleyball and there are no rules.”
“...what?”
“It sucks for everyone but I don’t think I’ve ever laughed that hard in my life,” he says. “Iwaizumi was getting a kick out of it too.”
“Wh… what?” Makki says, absolutely baffled how this conversation got to this point. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, I said that I could probably throw a three-point basket really easily because I practice pinpoint setting all the time, and am really good with targeting certain areas, and then she said that the basketball was so much heavier that wouldn’t translate, so we went out to see who could do who’s skills better and it sort of dissolved from there.”
Mattsun looks over to Makki who just looks… confused.
“So you…” Mattsun starts, trying to gather his thoughts. “You like this girl?”
“Yeah, she’s so much fun,” Oikawa says. “Iwa couldn’t have picked a better girl, they’re like, perfect for each other, too.”
Mattsun raises his eyes.
“Oh, I’m sure they are,” Makki says, before patting his back. “Alright, well, if you think she’s a good one, I’ll trust your judgement.”
This makes Oikawa laugh. “Yeah, okay.”
---
Perhaps Iwa had been a little nervous about properly introducing her to the other boys, or maybe he was just a naturally introverted person, but it seems that their conversation with Oikawa got back to him. That is to say, she starts coming around more often, and getting invited to things with them - Oikawa probably told them that the other boys were cool with it and it softened the subject a bit.
But receiving that text - hey, is it okay if Agawa comes? before their weekend hangout had been a little bit surprising. Mattsun had to be honest with himself - it was cute that Iwa had someone he was excited about, who he wanted his friends to know and like. It was just…
“It’s just… weird, right?” Makki says, looping a scarf around his neck as they wander up towards the meeting spot. “She seems cool, but… like… could it possibly be a coincidence?”
“Maybe it is,” Mattsun says. “I mean… at worst, I guess, it insinuates that Oikawa is Iwa’s type, but…”
“Oh that’s so weird…”
“But I guess it makes sense!” Mattsun hurries to finish. “He bullies Oikawa relentlessly, but still calls him his best friend, so there must be something in that relationship he values, personality or whatever. So… maybe that’s just his kind of person.”
“They have the same eye colour,” Makki wails. “How does he look at her and not see our Bastard King?”
“...I don’t know, actually, that’s a good question.”
The other three seemed to have arrived early to their lunch spot. Agawa looks… Well, she’s beautiful. Out of the uniform clothes they were familiar with her in, she’s dressed up in a dark blue pea coat, but is dressed relatively formally underneath, with a white collared shirt and black pleated skirt, black tights to ward against the cold.
It’s already weird that Oikawa seems to be wearing the exact same coat cut in a men’s style, but they notice Agawa wearing brown, thick-rimmed glasses. Now, at this exact moment, Oikawa wasn’t wearing any kind of glasses, but Mattsun knew that he did have them, but had chosen to wear contacts day-to-day.
“Oh my god Iwa has a type,” Mattsun says, watching Iwaizumi pluck those glasses off her face, holding them up above her head where she sat. She playfully pretends like she couldn’t get them back, grabbing at him and complaining about how stupid he was, how mean he was for wanting her to be blind.
“Iwa has a type and it’s Oikawa,” Makki agrees.
Still, despite all of this, Oikawa seems to be having a good time, watching them with a grin and laughing as she finally, suddenly, lunges to grab the glasses back before he can pull them out of her reach.
“Careful, Iwa,” Oikawa sings, warningly. “You don’t want to piss a blind girl off, she might miss your nose when she tries to punch it.”
“At least, that’ll be my story when you have a bruised dick,” Agawa replies, leaning her chin in her hand.
“I think I could take a punch from you,” Iwaizumi laughed.
Mattsun cannot figure out if he’s talking to Oikawa or Agawa with that comment.
“Yo, weirdos!” Makki calls, raising his voice and deciding to make their presence known as they approach. “Sorry for keeping you waiting.”
“Oh, no problem,” Oikawa says, at the same time Iwaizumi hurries to stand up, and Agawa does the same.
“Uh… Agawa, this is… Hanamaki, and Mattsukawa, I don’t… think you’ve met before?”
“No, but it’s a pleasure,” she replies, smiling for them. “I’ve heard plenty of stories from these two.”
“Oh, dear,” Mattsun says. “That’s not… that doesn’t sound like a good first impression.”
“Relax,” she says. “Haven’t heard anything to scare me away yet. Besides, Iwa-chan assures me you’re pretty cool somewhere deep down.”
Mattsun feels Makki dig claws into his arm.
“Ah, I’m glad,” Mattsun replies through gritted teeth, pulling out a chair to take a seat with them. Makki, struggling to breath but no longer able to gossip, does the same, and everyone sits down again.
They’d been so focused on Iwa and Oikawa, but - does Agawa know? When she was introduced to Oikawa, did she not notice how absolutely weird this is? Surely she would have? Her new boyfriend has a third wheel that’s just the male version of her?
But if it bothers any of the three, they certainly don’t show it.
Now that everyone had arrived, they’re able to put in their lunch orders and conversation turns a little more neutral. Well, as neutral as this group can get - Makki complains about still not being sure what he wants to go to school for after graduation, if he wants to go at all. Oikawa talks about having to babysit Takeru tomorrow night, Mattsun chimes in with a thank god I’m an only child, sentiment because his parents are leaving for the weekend and he’s just flying solo.
It actually isn’t that weird, having two Oikawa’s in the mix. And Mattsun thinks if the circumstances were less weird, he really, really would think Agawa was a good fit for Iwaizumi. They play off each other well, the banter is friendly, they match each other’s level of play fighting, they recover quickly from insults, and she’s really cool.
The problem is that he’s seen this exact relationship before. With Oikawa.
Iwaizumi is dating Oikawa. Whether he knows it or not. So…
“Iwa,” Mattsun says, after a minute. “I don’t think I ever heard, how did you-” he waves a hand between them. “How did this happen? You don’t seem like the type to go lurking around basketball games, so…”
“No, I’m not,” Iwaizumi agrees, before smiling slightly as he turns to look at Agawa again. “And… I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. I absolutely do not believe in any kind of bullshit love at first sight, but… I was just walking between classes, and I saw her hanging posters for the basketball team, and just… had to talk to her.”
…oh my God Iwaizumi is attracted to Oikawa.
“So you… you saw her and just…”
“Yeah. You know I don’t really date, never wanted to before, but… something felt right.”
“And I’m glad he did,” Agawa says. “I’ve had plenty of boys approach me, but they’re so… weird about it. Iwa-chan started a conversation like he’d known me his whole life…”
Mattsun hears Makki make a muffled, distressed noise. When this draws a series of looks, he waves it off as swallowing weirdly.
“Yeah, I bet he did,” Mattsun says, before turning his attention to Oikawa, who seems to be listening completely passively.
“But that’s enough about that,” Iwa says, waving his hand. “If I wanted you two to know everything about my dating life I’d say so.”
Oh I think we know enough.
“Sure, sure,” Makki says, waving a hand to dismiss the conversation. “Uhm… so… uh… Agawa, how’s the girls’ team doing? What’s the basketball season like, when are you up for your competition?”
“Our qualifiers have actually already wrapped,” she replies.
“Oh, did you-?”
“No, no,” she says, taking a slow breath. “We got unlucky, and got put into the same corner as Shiratorizawa, so we were knocked out pretty quick…”
“Oh, girl,” Oikawa says. “Don’t even get me started-”
“They’re the worst,” the two say in unison.
Mattsun wonders if this is, like, a test from God, or something.
---
“So… I’m thinking… architecture… no… civil engineering… no, no, I should go to culinary school…” Makki muses.
“You should take a gap year,” Mattsun replies, putting his hands in his pockets to ward against the cold chill.
“No, no, I can figure this out…”
“If you don’t know, don’t force it,” Mattsun says.
“I know, but-”
Laughter up ahead catches their attention, and they both refocus to see what was causing the noise. Neither are particularly surprised to see Iwa and Oikawa sitting against the wall outside of the school during their lunch period. Iwaizumi was holding one of their volleyballs, and leaning as far back as he could as Oikawa scrambled and tried to claw his way over him to get it back. As sharp jab into Oikawa’s stomach forces him to withdraw, and a complaint of pain makes them both laugh before Iwaizumi lobs the ball gently at his face, almost too quickly for him to catch.
“Mean Iwa-chan,” Oikawa says. “Bullying your best friend? How rude.”
“Oh, suck it up, princess,” Iwaizumi muttered, and Oikawa rolls his eyes, shifting and about to start his repetitive practice of tossing the ball up and setting it above his head, but he notices Mattsun and Makki approaching.
“Oh, hey~!” Oikawa sings, waving them over.
Mattsun feels a weird twisting in his chest. Sure, he’d been trying to just live and let live when it came to this Iwa-Agawa relationship, but it was still… weird. Without a doubt in his mind, Mattsun is pretty sure that Iwaizumi is repressing some kind of affection towards his best friend, and he’s slightly worried that if nobody involved in this triangle realizes it, there’s going to a lot of resentment in their later years.
How far would Iwa take this? What if he married her? What if she realizes she’s playing a doll as a stand-in for his best friend?
“Hey,” Makki says. “Are you guys coming to the afternoon practice? Coach says even if the season’s over, we can still help out and keep our skills sharp.”
“Yeah,” Oikawa says. “I was planning on it-” he glances over to Iwaizumi.
“Eh, why not?”
“Awesome,” Makki replies, and before he can speak again, someone’s phone chimes and everyone scrambles to check if it’s them.
“Oh, that’s me,” Iwaizumi says, which doesn’t really surprise anyone as he checks the message. He looks over to where Oikawa was sitting, and adds: “Agawa is asking if I’ll take her out to that movie, this evening.”
Oikawa raised his eyes. “The new scifi one?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay,” he says, seeming a little confused by Iwa directing this at him. “We didn’t have… plans I forgot about, did we?”
“No, no,” Iwa says, hurriedly, before lowering his voice, to a soft, borderline sweet tone, to say: “I just know you had said you wanted to go when we had a chance, I don’t want to go see it without you if…”
Oikawa smiles. “You’re fine,” he says. “Go spoil your girl. She has great taste in movies, by the way.”
Iwaizumi cracks a sort of smile that doesn’t look authentic at all, so Mattsun steps in with:
“Agawa’s a big science fiction girl?”
Iwaizumi looks up at him, and immediately reverts into a calm, relaxed demeanour. “Yeah,” he says. “You’d never guess it talking to her, though. She’s such a closet nerd, she loves all the classic sci-fi movies, and even has this little alien keychain that she uses as her lucky charm for games, it’s adorable-”
And Mattsun would use this as another point of mental anguish over the situation. After all, he knew first hand that Oikawa kept a little alien face keychain, at least as long as he’d known him. It glows in the dark. It’s really stupid.
But he doesn’t, because for the first time, he sees Oikawa respond.
Oikawa lifts his head up, staring at Iwaizumi and Mattsun, finally, is given the pleasure of watching a look of first realization, the horror, then absolute confusion cross Oikawa’s face. He can tell that several different connections are being snapped into place in his head, and then Oikawa whips his head around to make eye contact with Mattsun.
He’s screaming with his eyes: Oh my God!
Mattsun gives him a vaguely condescending smile. Yes, honey, we’ve known.
Oikawa waves a hand that is clearly meant to just request immediate panic and confusion, but Iwaizumi is looking at him now, and says:
“What's up with you-?”
“Nothing!” Oikawa squeaks, pulling back from him and lifting the volleyball up to cover his mouth, staring back at him. “Just… uh… Agawa and I have a lot in common, that’s all.”
This makes Iwaizumi laugh. “Do you?”
“Yeah, it… uhm… it doesn’t matter, don’t worry about it, enjoy the movie, I think I have the flu, I think I’m going to skip practice, okay, uhm-” and Oikawa shoves himself up to his feet, almost literally deciding to flee the scene. “Byebye~! See you tomorrow!”
Makki turns to watch him go, and Mattsun halfheartedly does the same, before turning to look down at Iwa.
Iwaizumi looks baffled.
“You know,” Makki said, deciding now was the best opportunity to stir the pot. “Agawa and Oikawa do share a lot of similarities…”
“I mean, sure, they’re both competitive athletes,” Iwa scoffs. “But so am I-”
“Yeah, and also, you know, same hair, same face, same general appearance, they just, yeah…” Makki says, making Iwaizumi narrow his eyes.
“You think?” he asks.
“Oh, you’re dumb?” Mattsun replies, before he can stop himself.
---
Deciding they absolutely could not miss whatever was going to go down, Mattsun and Makki chase down Oikawa before he can escape too far and leave Iwa to wonder in his stupidity what had possibly happened to the three of them. It’s pretty easy, because they find Oikawa pacing in a hallway near his next class, running his hands over his face.
Mattsun thinks he should announce himself, but when Oikawa turns around to continue pacing, he notices them there and immediately hisses;
“Hey! Why is Iwaizumi dating me?”
Mattsun gives a shrug. “Ah, good question, that’s… hard to unpack, I think, you know-”
“I… I have been running over everything in my head,” he says. “We like the same foods, we like the same movies, we both want to be professional athletes. We bonded over using the same brand for our hair gel!”
“I… look, it… she is… she’s great, right?” Mattsun laughs. “It’s not… It might be a coincidence-”
“We look like we could be fraternal twins,” Oikawa says, reaching to grab Mattsun by the shoulders. “And he said it was something about her appearance that drew him in. That it feels like he’s known her his whole life. Because he does! He has known her his whole life! Because she’s me!”
“Now, hang on, hang on-” Mattsun said, grabbing his arms to get him to let go. “It might not be that complicated. Maybe it’s… you know, it’s that freudian thing, where… people seek out partners that remind them of their mothers, like… psychology is weird-”
“You understand that that makes it significantly worse, right?” Oikawa says.
“Yeah, I regretted it once I said it,” Mattsun replies.
“But, hey, Oikawa, it… it’s really not that big of a deal,” Makki chirps. “I mean, unless… like… it really might mean nothing. Mattsun and I were talking, and… you know, you two are best friends, and people want to date people they like, so… makes sense that similar traits would appear in his partners…”
Oikawa turns to look at him. “Right, but how am I supposed to be normal about this now? God, and I liked her! I liked her, she’s awesome, and she makes him happy and she’s me but with boobs and the ability to legally marry him, and how am I supposed to be normal about that?”
Mattsun pauses, tilting his head. “Well, I guess it depends on… what your problem is with it,” he says.
“What do you mean?” Oikawa says.
“Well, are you freaking out because your best friend might have a secret… repressed crush on you, or are you freaking out because… your best friend might have a secret repressed crush on you?”
Oikawa blinks back at him, before pulling back from him and putting a hand on his own cheek, seeming to fall into thought.
“Mhm,” Oikawa hums after a moment.
“Would you marry Iwa if you legally could?” Makki says.
“I… hadn’t really thought about it,” Oikawa says. “I guess I’d just taken for granted that Iwa didn’t date. But I like Agawa, I think she’s so good for him, ands he makes him so happy, and I like seeing them together-”
It’s a conflicting emotion, Mattsun understands. If he were being honest, he’d never really been sure about the duo’s relationship even before this. They were best friends, but they were also… well, them. Iwa never had dated before, and Mattsun had always figured that was just… part of who he was. It was him-and-Oikawa, partners in crime, girls didn’t really factor in. And maybe Oikawa had never factored them in either. He wasn’t going to make assumptions on either of his friends' sexualities, but…
Well, this particular matchup had never felt anything less than natural.
“Maybe…” Oikawa says, after a moment. “Maybe I just liked seeing him with me,” he said, after a minute, and Mattsun is once again reminded why Oikawa was their captain, why he was considered their smartest player. Give him a social problem and thirty seconds to unravel it, and he could kick the pants off any psychology major. “Or… I liked the idea that I was close enough to what he considered his dream girl that I could blame it on him being straight and not… anything about me.”
Mattsun shrugs, because unlike Oikawa, he would need to be beaten over the head with a psychology textbook before he understood a word of it.
“Either way,” Oikawa starts, when he realizes neither Makki nor Mattsun were going to have anything intelligent to contribute beyond yeah he’s obviously at least a little attracted to you. “I don’t… want to do anything about it right now. I… am too confused, and he’s happy, so let’s just… feel this out.”
“Remarkably level-headed of you,” Makki says. “I think I’d still be at the screaming stage of this if I found out Mattsun was dating a girl version of me.”
“If I start dating a girl version of you, kill me,” Mattsun replies.
---
She looks… a little bit like Oikawa, I guess…
Iwaizumi would be lying if he said Mattsun and Makki hadn’t gotten into his head. Was Agawa really that similar to him? No, they were entirely different people. She was a basketball player for God’s sake!
Sure, they had a few similar interests, but that’s a good thing, he’d have hated if his girlfriend and best friend hadn’t been able to get along. And, sure, they… have similar hairstyles, but he doesn’t control how his girlfriend cuts her hair, she can do what she wants.
He watches her back as she bends over to untie her shoes after coming in from the movie. It’s late, they’re trying to be quiet because her parents are sleeping in the other room. She… does look a little bit like him from behind. Not quite tall enough, but… with that blue coat across her shoulders, and her face turned away…
It does feel a lot like it does hanging out with Oikawa.
He likes going on dates with her, because she’s fun, and easy to be around, and she feels familiar. He likes her. He really, really likes her… He likes everything about her, she’s perfect.
She looks over her shoulder at him, cutting pale brown eyes in a flirtatious grin. “My room?” she says, lowering her voice to a whisper.
Iwaizumi feels his blood light on fire, and he nods quickly, hurrying to get his shoes off and follow after her on quiet footsteps to get into her room.
She’s everything he’s ever wanted.
She turns around the moment he’s shut the door, grabbing him by the collar of his jacket and yanking him back towards her bed.
Oh, shit, okay-
Her lips are soft, but demanding - she takes the lead immediately, knowing what she wants. This isn’t the first time he’s kissed her, but it is the first time they’ve kissed like this late into the night after a movie-and-dinner date, when there’s nobody around to tell him to go home. As long as they stay quiet, they won’t be interrupted.
He feels her hands on his neck, then on his chest, and once she’s gotten his jacket off him, then she’s pulling him down onto the bed, and he’s shifting to be over her, and-
Is she really that much like Oikawa?
How would he know?
Sure, they have… similar attributes, similar physical features, similar mannerisms, similar priorities. She drops a hand to his waist, then trails her nails up his side, under his shirt, and he can feel Oikawa’s nails in their place, the same action but different.
Would he kiss the same way? Would he be this eager? This demanding? Would his lips taste like the same minty chapstick?
No, no, because Oikawa doesn’t like mint, he uses cherry.
Iwaizumi can almost taste cherry on his tongue, pushing more into the kiss and rolling over into the bed with him, hands lifting up to tangle in that soft brown hair, moaning softly as he moves his lips off Iwa’s and down to his neck.
He can feel his body heating up, blood boiling under his skin as each touch burns exactly like he’d imagine Oikawa’s would, the same soft skin, delicate motions, giggling kisses.
He pushes Iwaizumi over onto his back, and suddenly slides into place to straddle him, and Iwaizumi peels open his eyes to look up at him, and is greeted by those sharp brown eyes, breath catching in his throat. He’s so beautiful.
And long, slender fingers pluck at the hem of his shirt, and with a fluid, clean movement tugs it up over her head, tossing it off the bed to the floor.
And the fire under Iwaizumi’s skin dissipates like someone had snuffed out the oxygen in the air.
Agawa.
Agawa, he’s making out with Agawa.
Holy shit I was fantasizing about Oikawa.
My Oikawa - Oikawa Tooru - that same Oikawa, oh my God-
He feels panic in his chest - guilt, shame, whatever it was, but-
He scans his eyes over Agawa’s body, lifting his hands to gently rest them on her waistline, skin soft and the curve of her hips almost textbook perfect, but…
Any guy would kill to be in this position with this girl - he lets his eyes scan over her body, the tight, white lace bra that was just begging him to take off, and-
I’m not attracted to her.
She’s perfect. She’s exactly what I want.
And I fantasized about Oikawa to turn myself on.
“I…Iwa-chan?” she asks, suddenly sounding nervous, if not slightly self conscious, as she slouches a little bit. He jumps, focusing his eyes back up on her and realizing he’d just frozen in place. “Iwaizumi? If you don’t want to go any further, that’s fine, I didn’t mean to… to push, or…”
“I…” he doesn’t even know what to tell her. If she really is that much like Oikawa, even if she says it’ll be fine, rejecting her now with a fake excuse would decimate her self confidence. He doesn’t want her to think she’s done anything wrong.
“Are you okay?” she asks, sounding concerned now. “I know I’m pretty, but I didn’t mean to turn you to stone-”
“I’m gay,” he says, and then lifts his eyes back up to meet her.
She stares at him for a moment, before sighing in an almost emphatic way, shoulders relaxing a bit.
“Oh, Hajime…”
---
To Oikawa’s credit, he had done what he had said. Not gonna make a scene, chill out a bit, give myself some time to decide if I even care… Conversation that morning, then, is about Makki’s continued exercise in not having a life plan.
“Just take a gap year,” Oikawa says.
“Yeah, but I don't wanna, like, have to get a job,” Makki mutters. “I’d be bored out of my mind, everyone at school or somewhere else, me, at home, bored, lame, forgotten.”
“Aw, we won’t forget you,” Mattsun said, lifting a hand to pat his shoulder. “We’ll try, but we won’t be able to.”
Makki scrunches his nose up, before noticing something over Mattsun’s shoulder. He turns to see what it was, and watches Iwaizumi come hurrying up the path to the school, clutching the strap of his bag like he wanted to strangle it.
“Hey, dude, rough night?” Mattsun calls.
“What?” Iwa says, looking at him in alarm. “Oh, uh… sure, yeah, whatever.”
Oikawa shifts his weight slightly, before saying: “Uhm… is Agawa not walking with you? I had a book she wanted to borrow, so…”
“Oh, no, we… we broke up, so… uhm…”
Everyone’s eyes shoot up, and there’s a series of exchanges. Oikawa looks deeply confused and panicked, looking at Makki - Makki looks to Mattsun, trying to ask what this means for the Oikawa-Agawa connection, Mattsun doesn’t know, so he tries to look at Oikawa and ask how he felt about that, but Oikawa looks back to Iwa now, and says:
“Uh… oh, that’s… too bad, that’s too bad… you guys were good together…”
“Yeah,” Iwaizumi says, swallowing. “We… talked about it, it’s not like… it’s not like a big thing, she’s chill, so… you don’t have to tiptoe or anything…”
“That’s good,” Oikawa says, voice softening and adding: “I mean… I had thought you two were perfect together…”
“You did?” Iwaizumi echoes back, and Mattsun does not miss the note of something akin to relief or hope in hearing that sentiment.
“Yeah,” Oikawa agrees. “You two… fit like a glove.”
“We did,” Iwaizumi agrees. “I think we were perfect for each other too. Well, almost perfect.”
“Almost perfect?”
“Almost perfect,” Iwaizumi echoes, and Oikawa smiles slightly, and Mattsun feels the sort of anxious energy Iwa had approached with begin to dissipate, borrowing his stability from Oikawa.
After a moment of pause, Oikawa says:
“Well, let’s head to class, then. Don’t wanna be late.”
“Yeah,” Iwa says, before nodding a goodbye to the others. They wave halfheartedly back, and as the two turn to leave, Mattsun hears Iwa add: “Hey, you know, if you haven’t seen it yet, and still want to, that movie is playing again this weekend, we could go?”
“What, won't you be bored seeing it twice?”
“Not at all.”
Mattsun waits until they're out of earshot, before glancing back at Makki.
“Do you think they broke up naturally, or did he realize?” Mattsun asks.
“I don’t know,” Makki says slowly. “Either way, I think this is for the best. Not even Oikawa should be allowed to get in between them.”
Mattsun laughs, patting his shoulder. “Fair enough. Okay, come on, let’s get to class. Undoubtedly something new and fucked up will be happening by noon, so we should enjoy the peace while it lasts.”
---
“Did you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“Agawa’s ex has a new boyfriend.”
“A boyfriend?”
“Yes! Everyone’s been talking about it.”
“Huh. How’s she feeling about that?”
“She seems fine, actually, but… get this-
“Oh?”
“The guy looks exactly like Agawa.”
“Really?"
"Yeah, talk about a rebound.”