𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝐶𝑂𝑁𝐶𝐸𝑃𝑇 𝑂𝐹 𝐵𝐸𝐺𝑈𝐼𝐿𝐼𝑁𝐺 ┊ 𝐻𝐴𝐽𝐼𝑀𝐸 𝐼𝑊𝐴𝐼𝑍𝑈𝑀𝐼

𝟱 - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲

┅ ┅ ┅

"Sorry Naomi, I've got a ton of work to do," Riko sighed while closing up her bag.
"Is there any way I can help?" Naomi asked, wanting to not be bored over the weekend.
"Nah. It'll be rather boring. We can probably hang out next week though."
Riko waved goodbye and started down the hallway.

"Itsuwaru, can I ask you something?" Iwaizumi asked as he walked with Naomi to the gym.
"Yeah sure."
"Would you like to come home with me after my practice?"
Naomi stopped at the door with a rather confused and somewhat disgusted face.
"Why?"
"I wanted to hang out with you. I can make you dinner too."
"Oh, I guess I can."
He smiled and opened the door for her.
"Great!"

It was rather dark once practice had ended and Naomi sat on the stairs, watching the rest of the team make their exit.
Iwaizumi joined her on the steps, and she saw his checkered Vans stand beside her.
"Where Oikawa?" Naomi questioned.
"He's staying extra hours. He's such a moron."
He held out his hand and it took Naomi a couple of seconds to realize it was for her.

He had wanted to hold her hand while they walked to his home, but she pulled out of his grasp after they exited the campus.
"My parents aren't home yet. They work really late."
"It's okay."
When they arrived, Naomi noticed the beautifully small blue home. There was little food bowls sitting beside the porch steps.
"What are those for?" Naomi asked as they walked up the stairs.
"My mother likes to feed the stray cats around the neighborhood. It's nice and all but they're always around."
"That's sweet."

Iwaizumi took out a house key with the design of a dinosaur painted on it and opened up the house.
Naomi felt rather awkward in his home. He turned on the lights and dimly lit the bottom floor.
The kitchen was mint green, filled with little nicknacks of animals.
Decorative plates were hung on the wall beside the sliding door to the backyard.
"What would you like to eat?"
Naomi took her eyes away from the window and over by the fridge where Iwaizumi searching for dinner.

"What do you usually have?"
He gave a sly grin and pulled out a small package from the fridge.
"It's tofu," he told her, getting out a pan to cook it up.
"Oh, cool."
She sat down on the stool of the island and watched him cook at the stovetop.
Naomi felt really unsettled, being in his home especially this late at night.
She didn't think she'd ever know Iwaizumi well enough to be in his home.
Naomi pulled a paper that had been sitting on the counter closer to her.

She started to read the text on the paper, the font large and the color red.
Naomi felt her chest compress and her mind wander as she read over the paper. She wondered if he knew about this. She wondered if he was aware.
He probably was if it was so open on the counter, but she didn't know why he was so nonchalant about his life.

When he pulled down a plate, she slid the paper back over. He joined her on the stool beside her with two plates of tofu and rice.
"I've got some soy sauce for the rice if you want it."
"It's okay. Thank you."
The two of them silently ate together, Naomi enjoying the food she tended to have on special nights. Her parents hated getting silken form tofu. It was rather expensive.

"Our practices might be a little longer. The inter-high preliminaries are started up after next week."
"That's fine. I'm willing to stay however long I need to."
"Glad you support me. My mother wasn't so sure about me playing volleyball in Highschool."
"Yeah, I like watching volleyball."
"Oikawa is really hell-bent on going to Nationals. I want to go too, but to hurt your body just to go, I don't see the appeal."
"He hurt his body?"
"You know the white pad on his knee?"
"Yeah?"
"It's a knee brace to support it."
"Why does it needed to be supported?"
"He collapsed during a late practice one night from working himself too hard. He's lucky he didn't tear his ligaments too much. That moron."

Iwaizumi took hold of her hand and looked into her eyes.
"I don't mean to unload my worries onto you."
"It's okay."
He raised his other hand to pull a stray curl away from her face. His larger hands made her nervous. Her breathing felt unsteady.
She shifted her eyes down and bent her shoulders back.

"Itsuwaru, do I make you uncomfortable?"
She quickly raised up her head, saddened by his tone.
"N-no. I-i just-"
"You just seem so unsure about being near me. If I rushed you too fast, you can tell me."
Naomi realized she was putting no effort into pulling this off. There was no way she could continue this with subpar interactions of simple conversation and pats on the back.
In order to really convince him that she liked him, in order to stay with him long enough for Oikawa to fall for her, she'd have to put more into this relationship.

Naomi gripped his hand tightly and smiled.
"I like being near you Iwaizumi-San. I've just never had a boyfriend or been in a boy's house—alone."
Iwaizumi blushed, noticing the situation he had brought her to.
"Right, I'm so sorry."
"Stop apologizing so much. I came here because I want to."
Iwaizumi put his hands near her blazer and begun to unbutton it.
"Hey-whoah-."
"Sorry, I need to put it in the laundry. Would you like one of my shirts to wear? I should wash your blouse since that at least was my fault."
Naomi slipped his blazer off her and handed it over.
"I would like one of your shirts", she shyly told him.

Naomi followed Iwaizumi upstairs to his bedroom where he pulled out a t-shirt for her. It was a volleyball team shirt for Kitagawa Daiichi.
"I was probably your height in sixth grade, so this should fit perfectly."
She rubbed her fingers over the printed text on the corner of the blue shirt.
"I kinda wanted to forget about that school."
"How come?"
"I never really found my place I guess."
"Our team was really good so that's mostly why I stayed."
"Yeah. Thanks for the shirt."
"I'll put yours in the wash. You can hand it to me through the door."
Iwaizumi left his bedroom, leaving it cracked open. Naomi had been confused at his shyness.

Naomi nimbly unbuttoned her blouse and folded it. She handed the folded shirt to him from the other side of the door.
She heard him stepping down the stairs and so she slipped his middle school shirt on, finding it to be a perfect size.

Naomi waited patiently on top of his bed and he knocked before returning to the room.
She watched him walk over and sit beside her, both their hands rested on top of their legs.
"I've been wanting to hold your hand for a long time," Iwaizumi quietly mumbled, "I'm glad your here with me."
Naomi reaches her hand over, grabbing his.
She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder, moving her body closer to him.

"I've been wanting to be with you for a long time too. I hope this doesn't end."