Chapter Text
For someone who cared this much about his grades, you’d think Tooru would be able to get out of bed. But no, here he is, still laying in bed, late to class yet again. He silences another call from his mother and puts his phone facedown on the nightstand, rolling over onto his side. He’s not just late, he supposes- he’s just not going to class. I mean, what’s the point? He doesn’t even have a real major right now.
Dropping out of engineering was probably a stupid choice, now that Tooru has had time to think about it, but having easy classes this semester has been VERY nice. The only problem with them is that they’re too easy, and Tooru justifies his skipping with the fact that he has high 90’s in all of them.
His phone buzzes with a text, and it’s not the vibration pattern Tooru has set for his mother’s notifications, so he rolls over again and picks it up. It’s Iwa. Great. Tooru knows he’s in for another lecture about how going to class is important even if they’re easy. He doesn’t answer.
This is his life now: skipping class unless there’s a quiz or an exam and laying in bed either scrolling or dozing on and off until he’s hungry enough to get up. Which, speaking of.. Tooru’s really hungry.
“Fuck,” he mutters, sitting up and stretching, finally looking at the time. He didn’t just skip his classes, he skipped the entire damn day- it’s 4pm. He throws on sweatpants and a t-shirt and makes his way out of his dorm room, deciding to head to the dining hall for once instead of going off-campus. Luckily it’s not too busy, as most students tend to eat dinner after 5.
It happens as he’s standing there contemplating what he wants to eat. A tap on his shoulder, an “excuse me,” and Tooru looks over at the hottest man he’s ever seen in his life.
“Huh?” he says, elegantly. He stares at the man’s eyes (beautiful, earthy, magnificent) and watches his pupils dilate as he looks back at Tooru.
“Sorry, I just wanted to say I like your shirt!” The man laughs, stepping back- oh, great, the hottest fucking man ALIVE is wearing a shirt with furry art on it- and Tooru’s done for. Yep, pack it up, if he can’t have this one he doesn’t ever want anything else ever again. He looks down at his own shirt, merch from his favorite band.
“Thanks,” he says. “I.. uh… I like yours too?” He winces at the fact that it sounds like a question, but the guy laughs again, and now Tooru’s really smiling, and wow, okay, awesome, thank you universe for sending this man his way, because his laugh sounds like how it feels when the sun peeks through the clouds after a storm, refreshing and light and oh-so-sweet. “What’s your name?” Tooru asks, grinning.
“Sawamura Daichi,” he says, “but just call me Daichi. I have too many siblings to be called by my last name, I need some individuality, y’know?”
“Daichi,” Tooru breathes, and he has a new favorite word. “Nice to meet you! I’m Oikawa Tooru.” He sticks his hand out, and Daichi shakes it, and holy SHIT does his hand feel perfect around Tooru’s.
“Nice to meet you too, Oikawa,” Daichi returns. “So.. were you gonna eat, or..?”
“And he’s SO hot, Iwa-chan, you don’t underSTAND, he smiled at me and it was like ‘wow, okay, I’m gonna faint,’ and not to mention the MUSCLES on this guy- PHEW- I swear to GOD his biceps are as big around as my head, oh my goddddd,” Tooru whines, attempting to catch his breath after ranting about Daichi for at least ten minutes straight.
“That’s.. cool, Tooru,” Iwaizumi laughs, and Tooru frowns. “C’mon, Iwa, you HAVE to humor me here! And like, there’s no way he’s actually interested in me, but-”
“Don’t talk about yourself like that,” Iwa says, swatting Tooru on the back. “He’s definitely at least a little interested, given that he approached you first.”
“Okay, but that’s like- normal,” Tooru complains. “People do that all the time, it’s kind of how you make friends.”
“When you’re young,” Iwa points out. “When you’re older, in college, most people stick to themselves and their already established friend groups, unless they meet someone in class. Which, speaking of, did you ask which major he’s in?”
Tooru rolls his eyes, and dodges another blow from his best friend. “Yes, I did, and he’s in computer engineering, okay?” He sulks. If he’d stayed in engineering he might have met Daichi sooner- even though, logically, this is unlikely, as Tooru’d been in nuclear engineering, which is a WHOLE different side of the spectrum than computer engineering.
Iwa nods, and then his brows furrow. “Wait, what was his name again? Daichi?” Tooru confirms, and then remembers he forgot a pretty important detail. “Well, that’s actually his first name- his last name is Sawamura, I think.” Iwaizumi thinks for a moment, searching his memories for any mention, and.. shakes his head, quest fruitless. “I’ve got nothing,” he says. “Oh well.”
Tooru giggles. “Duh, of course you don’t know him. You’re in sports management, which is not only, you know, NOT an engineering degree, but a major for which the buildings are on the other side of campus from the engineering buildings.”
“Hey, it was worth a shot!” Iwaizumi argues playfully, and Tooru bats at him, Iwaizumi’s attempt to push him away useless as Tooru has much longer arms than his best friend. “But hey, Tooru, do you know what major you’re going to apply for yet? You have to do that soon, right?”
“Ugh. Don’t remind me.” Tooru is allowed two semesters in general studies before he’s required to apply for a new major, but he’d rather apply after one- the problem is, he doesn’t know which major he wants. He likes bugs- but what is he supposed to get, a degree in bugs? Yeah, right. What a joke.
He flops back onto the grass, staring up at the clouds lazily making their way across the sky. It’s been two days since he met Daichi in the dining hall, now Saturday, and Tooru cannot stop daydreaming about him. The hottest guy Tooru’d ever seen, and not only was he hot, but he was kind, caring, gentle, everything Tooru’s ever wanted in a partner. He’d never felt so comfortable with someone so quickly. Aside from Iwa, but he doesn’t count. He’s been Tooru’s best friend since they were five. Something about Daichi had just.. clicked. They’d sat in the dining hall for an hour, chatting long after they’d both finished their meals, and then Daichi had asked for his phone number before he’d left.
“Should I ask him out?” Tooru mumbles, contemplating. Daichi texted him later that night after they had separated, and of course he’d answered, but neither of them have said anything since those initial messages.
“Uh.”
“Or maybe just text him normally, like a ‘hi’ or a ‘whatcha doin?’”
“Uh..”
“What?” Tooru asks, still looking up at the sky.”
“Well.. maybe we should talk about this later,” Iwa says, and Tooru frowns, finally sitting up. “What?! Why can't I-” Iwaizumi interrupts him. “Shh!” Tooru rolls his eyes, seriously considering slapping his friend across the face, until-
“Hey, Oikawa!”
Oh, shit. He knows that voice.
And this isn’t good.