Chapter 1: Anger
Iwaizumi Hajime. Just why did you have to ghost out on me?
"Oikawa-san! Are you listening?"
Oikawa turned his head to face the person behind him. His eyebrows were knitted together, his grey eyes glued onto Oikawa's.
Kuroo was an extraordinary man – you cannot miss his spiked hair. He would be the shark in a sea of crowds. You could always feel his presence, and Oikawa was the first one to notice Kuroo who sat in front of him during his entrance ceremony last year. Now, both of the became close friends, which had never crossed Oikawa's mind.
Oikawa let out an apologetic laugh as he placed down a box of decorations on the floor, and said, "Sorry, Kuroo-san, I was kinda'reminded of something."
Kuroo sighed heavily, and drawled, "That is so not you. You've been out-of-character since we started practicing."
Oikawa let out confident laugh, and asserted, "Like there's anything that can get on my mind! I'm just focusing on the lines for our next play!"
Kuroo dropped the box of decorations on the floor. He rummaged through it and fished out a fairylight, and handed it to the other man.
"We'll be needing this for our club's booth. Suga-san still hasn't booked us a table for the carnival yet. I hope he comes back with good news later."
Oikawa took the fairylights in his hands and let out a questioned look, and asked. "Hey, Kuroo-san, are your friends from Nekoma in this university?"
Kuroo looked at him, his gaze didn't break for a second, and he said, "Hm, Kozume Kenma, my childhood friend, he is a first-year, and their entrance ceremony is in a week, right? And, also Yaku Morisuke, a second-year, same as me. They're all from Nekoma. Why all of a sudden?"
Looks like I'm all alone in this city.
"Nothing~ It must be wonderful to have your buddies around. It feels like home, isn't it?" Oikawa answered, in his usual happy-go-lucky tone.
"That's because we are in Tokyo, and I live in Tokyo! But, Oikawa-san, aren't you from Miyagi? From Seijoh, right, are there anyone from your old school in this university, or coming to this university?"
Oikawa went silent for a moment. Kuroo was eyeing him, and waiting for him to reply. The first thing that popped up in Oikawa's head was that person – Iwaizumi Hajime.
He was supposed to be here with Oikawa, standing beside him. But, truth to be told, he was off on his own path. Sometimes, Oikawa wished that he wasn't this bold. Coming to Tokyo... what was he thinking? It was a miracle that he survived his first year in the university, not to mention, the sleepless city of Tokyo.
"Sadly, its just me." Oikawa admitted, as he let out a sad smile.
The door behind them suddenly bursted open, a white-haired man marched in, his face was written with joy, a mole sat under his left eye. At least, it wasn't just Oikawa who was bold enough to leave Miyagi.
Sugawara had a paper in his right hand, he showed it to them, and happily announced, "I finally got us a booth for the carnival, guys! Now, we can prepare our decorations before the entrance ceremony."
"As expected from Suga-san! Thanks for your hardwork!" Kuroo commented, patting Sugawara's back.
"This is nothing..." Sugawara said, before he looked at Oikawa. "Nice work carrying the boxes in here, guys! Sorry, I couldn't get here any faster! There was a long queue just now, it took me fifteen minutes before it was my turn!"
"I'm glad it all worked out, Suga-san!" Oikawa said joyfully, as he raised an 'OK'.
"Definitely! Now—" Sugawara was cut off when a brown-haired woman stormed into the room.
She walked in gracefully with her head held high. Eyes pinning on Oikawa with an unending shine. She looked at three of them with a sweet smile.
"Morning, everyone! Nice work!" Misaki drawled.
"Morning~ Misaki-chan!" Oikawa gleefully greeted her, as he made his way towards the girl. She was a head shorter than him, she stood just tall as his shoulder. He could smell her sweet perfume and her shampoo, it was calming.
Oikawa's arm involuntarily pulled her closer, her small frame bounced slightly on hia body.
She said, "What's with this, Tooru-kun? Do you miss me that much? Sorry, I didn't come to the meeting yesterday, you must've been lonely."
Misaki, with her brown eyes, looked at Oikawa's. Her head tilted upwards.
Oikawa pouted, and said, "If only Misaki-chan isn't busy all the time, I'll probably work harder. Hmph!"
The man crossed his arms, and turned away. He heard Kuroo and Sugawara chuckling, and Misaki let out a small laugh before turning towards the two men, who were silently berating him.
"Kuroo-san, Suga-san, are the decorations ready?" She asked.
"Yes, thanks to Kuroo-san! Misaki-san, are we gonna' decorate the booth now, or should we practice some lines for the play? Since, you've been out for so long, I'm afraid you won't memorize the lines for the new play in time." Sugawara, as diligent as he is, advised.
Sugawara Koushi, he was from Miyagi, Karasuno even. Oikawa have had watched his plays – he was a true artisan. And the way we stood on stage was different from the way he stood in front of his friends.
He played the protagonist in his last play in Karasuno. Everyone was there to watch, including the folks from Shiratorizawa. Aoba Johsai acknowledged Karasuno's plays, and even exchanged constructive criticism whenever they can.
Just that, the old Sugawara – the confident Sugawara mellowed out once he entered university. Oikawa noticed that he no longer wanted to play as the protagonist, and Oikawa understood that the people around him weren't the same old people from Karasuno.
Misaki placed her hands together and smiled, before she chirped, "I must thank you for thinking of me, Suga-san. Can I kow how long until the entrance ceremony?"
"You have a week to memorize and rehearse those lines! Don't worry, Misaki-san! Your acting skills are to be reckoned with!" Kuroo said enthusiastically.
Misaki scratched her head, and said, "I don't know about that, Kuroo-san. You see, I'm not a machine, but—"
"Misaki-chan~ Don't worry, the main protagonist is here to help you rehearse~ Besides, I've already memorized it all." Oikawa announced, as he pointed to himself, proudly.
"Well, yeah! That's the Great King we all know and love!" Kuroo remarked.
"Don't worry, Misaki-san! Oikawa-san, here, is only second to the best actor in Miyagi!" Sugawara continued, "Second only to his junior, Kageyama."
Oikawa blurted, "Suga-san, you could've stopped there!"
Oikawa couldn't help but look at Misaki as she laughed. "Tooru-kun, you we're the second best in Miyagi? Doesn't that make you mad?"
"I'm burning with hate!"
"But, Tooru-kun, you have a speech to give on the day of the entrance ceremony. Helping me would worsen the situation, no?" Misaki looked at Oikawa.
Oikawa rubbed the back of his head, and replied, "Actually, I have all that hammered down, so its not problem~ If its Misaki-chan then I'd do anything to help you!"
"Tooru-kun, thank you!" Misaki responded.
Kuroo fished out his phone from his pocket and looked at the time, "Shit, my next class is in ten minutes! See you guys later!"
"Say 'hi' to Yaku-san for me, Kuroo-san! I'll be going now, you two. I still have to get some lines down, I'll leave you guys here, okay?" Sugawara said, before the left the room.
Oikawa waved back at the man, before pulling out his phone to look at the time. His screen flashed when his eyes laid onto the person on his wallpaper, beside him.
It was Seijoh's third-year's final performance, Oikawa played the antagonist while the person in his wallpaper played as his side-kick. That reminded him, it has been a year since the performance ended, and weeks after that performance was their graduation.
"Tooru, can I cut out the good girl act?" Misaki complained.
"Anything you want, Misaki-chan~" Oikawa said, as he gave a thumbs up.
"Nothing fazes you, huh, Tooru. I can be bitchy about everything and you still can be all calm and collected about everything. You never freak out at all!" Misaki said as she tied up her hair into a ponytail, and sat on the floor.
She pulled out a clear pocket file from her bag, and took out what it seemed to be the script for the play.
"If it wasn't for that student body, I could've memorized all these lines! I'm jealous of you, Tooru!" Misaki added.
"Sure, be jealous~ I'm only here to infuriate you~" Oikawa said, as he joined the girl on the floor.
"Let's see how much you memorized!" Misaki started. "At long last, we meet again, my love! I'm sorry that you had to cross oceans, rivers, forests to get here!"
Misaki looked at Oikawa slyly before Oikawa started calmly, "I did promise, my love. All this time, this journey has taught me one thing..."
"And what is that, my love?"
"Is to never give up on something that you love."
The two of them looked at each other, their faces written with joy. Even if Misaki didn't seem to be the girl who was always good and kind, because Oikawa was the same. They knew that they were made for each other. And, they both seemed to think that way for a really long time.
Iwaizumi Hajime. I think... I'll stop waiting for you.
