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Iwaizumi Hajime always knew Oikawa Tooru would leave this place behind.
It was too small for Tooru, who had a big heart and even bigger dreams. Tooru had wings that could get him out of this place, and off to where he needed to be in order to flourish. That was always obvious in hindsight for Hajime.
The thing is, he didn’t think Tooru would ask for his opinion on it. That’s what got him staring blankly at Tooru in confusion. Tooru just told him about Argentina, about leaving this place. It was after practice, the golden rays of the sun shining behind them, basking Tooru in an almost angelic way. In this light, Hajime can almost see the wings that will take Tooru to new heights.
“Well,” Iwaizumi says, gathering his thoughts. Tooru looked nervous, but never once broke eye contact. “I thought that would be obvious, Shittykawa.”
Instantly, the nervous air seems to disappear from Tooru and he looks almost… relieved ? It was gone after a second, making Iwaizumi think he was imagining things.
“Right! I knew you’d get it, Iwa-chan.” He then smirks in that smug way of his, a saccharine sweet smile that tells Iwaizumi that Tooru is about to say some bullshit again. “And don’t worry, I won’t forget you when I become super-famous!”
Hajime made a face, glaring at Tooru’s smug bravado. He makes a move to punch Tooru but the shitty bastard dodges in time, taunting Iwaizumi for being ‘ so slow, Iwa-chan! You’ve been slacking off haven’t you?’ They went home running and bickering, just like old times. Except when before they stood side by side, now Hajime was a step behind Tooru. Watching his back, watching him get farther and farther away out of his reach.
He wakes up from a half-remembered dream of his high school years. Hajime sighs, running his hand through his hair. Sometimes, his days start out like this. Missing Oikawa like a phantom limb. He hates the feeling of bile in his throat and the heaviness of his chest. Absent-mindedly, his hand moves to his chest, massaging it to relieve some tension. It’s a routine for days like this.
(A part of Hajime revels in these mornings, that become far and few between. Most days, he is alright. He doesn’t feel the lump on his throat, has ignored it well enough that it doesn’t register in his head anymore. On days where he feels too much, Hajime aches and feels the more human for it.)
He hasn’t talked to Oikawa lately, almost a year now. Their only mode of communication being their old group chat from their Seijoh days. Maybe they’ve been too busy to regularly ask how they’ve been. Life happens, and life happens fast.
Hajime blinked and Tooru moved away. He blinked again then he was the one moving away. Farther they went, away from the shackles of that small, small town. Leaving behind people, meeting new ones. Chasing and changing and dreaming. Every time he blinked, a few months would pass. Uni took up all their time too, learning not only the curriculum but new languages and culture as well.
It was all so exhausting but he and Tooru still talked. As college went, it started to get less frequent. After graduation and starting the employed lifestyle, the texts became calls. Somewhere along the way, between all the distance, time, and busy lives, they just… stopped talking. It wasn’t a conscious choice. The gap of their paths just grew.
(Hajime knew that that gap would close again. After all, this was Oikawa. They’d always be there for each other, in every way that matters.
But even so, Hajime can’t help but be scared to close the gap again. Oikawa was familiar in a way that almost hurt. Hajime could never not want Oikawa. When he closes his eyes, the image of Tooru is burned into them. He doesn’t want to open them again if it means seeing Oikawa for a little while longer.
He shouldn’t want him that way, he knows. It would ruin everything, Hajime wouldn't risk it. A part of him hopes and hopes and hopes , but he knows he couldn’t be the one that shackles Oikawa in place. He will not cage Oikawa, who deserves to be out there and soar .)
The world still spins even when Hajime and Tooru haven’t talked in so long.
Hajime can handle this distance, this self-inflicted exile.
Tooru Oikawa read the interview of Iwa-chan and can’t help the indignation that rises through him.
The nerve of that guy, thoroughly complimenting him for everyone to read and still not messaging him even once after? Tooru ought to fly to him, but instead he’ll call Iwa-chan.
He checks the time, 1:28 PM. That would mean it was around 9 AM for Iwa-chan, he’d be awake by now. The phone rings once before Iwa-chan answers, the soft gruff of ‘ what do you want?’ making Tooru feel like it’s only been a second since they last talked. He still knows Hajime well, he can hear the embarrassed tone of his voice. It’s like being next to him again, Tooru sees it clearly, Hajime’s scowling face with that cute little blush on the tips of his ears.
“I knew you missed me, Iwa-chan~!” Tooru sing-songs, smiling broadly. “Honestly, if you missed me so much, you should’ve just called!” Tooru doesn’t mind the beginning of Hajime’s standard insults.
With a slight pout in his voice, he said “Why were you acting like a stranger in the interview, huh?”
“I’m hanging up.” Hajime deadpans. Tooru giggles as he sees in his mind the way Hajime would be gritting his teeth, arm raised to punch the nonsense out of him. Iwa-chan had always been a pretty physical guy.
“Honestly, Hajime, you’re ridiculous.” He wonders if Hajime can hear the smile in his voice, and if he can see Tooru’s face just as clearly as he sees Hajime.
“You’re worse than me,” Hajime says. For all their distance, it’s almost as if Hajime is next to him. “Tooru, you dramatic ass.”
“ I’m the dramatic ass?!” Tooru says in mock offense, his hand (dramatically) holding his chest. He doesn’t need to say a thing about Hajime being the dramatic one in the interview, going on a spiel about them not talking, as if he couldn’t just call Tooru.
(Tooru would come running for Hajime. He would always make time for Hajime, who is his partner. Has been since they were little. The man who knows him the best indeed.)
They end up talking for hours, spending the night still on call. At some point, they turn it into a video call and just spend the time co-existing. They catch each other up on what happened in the almost year that they haven't talked. If Tooru would get a hopeful lift in his chest whenever he saw Hajime blush at his blatant flirting, in skirting around the edges, well… no one would know (yet).
(If, in June, Tooru would visit Hajime in California, it would purely be a coincidence. Even if the whole stay lasts till the end of July. If their eyes and touch linger a little longer as time passes, no one but them would know. If their nights are spent huddled together even in the summer heat, no one else is watching. What matters is that they are in each other’s arms. They are home.)
They might have been miles apart now but they were Tooru and Hajime.
They would always circle back to one another. They were partners, after all.
(If, at the end of the year, they figure out how to be another thing to each other, it’s just a different name to what has always been TooruandHajime— friends, rivals, teammates, and now lovers. Different names for the same person that all boil down to one thing.)
Partners.