𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝐶𝑂𝑁𝐶𝐸𝑃𝑇 𝑂𝐹 𝐵𝐸𝐺𝑈𝐼𝐿𝐼𝑁𝐺 ┊ 𝐻𝐴𝐽𝐼𝑀𝐸 𝐼𝑊𝐴𝐼𝑍𝑈𝑀𝐼

𝟭𝟲 - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲

┅ ┅ ┅

"Dammit!"
Naomi slammed her door, making the walls shake. Taking off her shoes, she threw them across the room, knocking over whatever was in their paths.
"Damn double date bullshit!"
Sitting atop her bed, she threw her head against the wall, gripping tightly onto the sheets.
"Fuck!"

Naomi felt tears in her eyes, anger across her face. It seeped onto her fingers, her hands shaking with every thought.
A raging fever sunk into her skin, ready to burst.
"Fuck!"
Naomi's thoughts raced with dizzy blurs of one thing.

Oikawa.
Oikawa.
Oikawa.
Oikawa.

It wasn't true! It wasn't true! It couldn't be!
It was her fault! It was Riko!
"Bitch!"
Taking hold of her phone, the screen cracked from earlier, she threw it across the room.
Riko had betrayed her. Riko had completely betrayed her.
Ever since middle school, ever since she first told Riko of her crush on Oikawa, she had tried to get them together. Riko supported her. Riko helped the best she could. Riko was the fucking one that asked Oikawa if he liked me!

"She betrayed me," Naomi whispered, hands dug into her scalp.
"Riko lied to me."
The one person Naomi had put her trust into. The one person Naomi confided in. The one person who knew of her dream before telling Iwaizumi.
Riko was the one person, Naomi thought, who truly loved her.
"She would never," Naomi cried, tears streaming down her hot face. "She would never. Riko would never hurt me."

Taking deep breaths, Naomi lowered her arms and sat up. Looking at the mess she had made of her room, she wiped the tears from her face.
"Riko would never hurt me."
Standing up, Naomi took hold of her phone, running her finger over the broken screen. There was a single text displayed on the screen.
One from Iwaizumi.

Have a good night, Itsu.

So Naomi went to sleep.

Taking notes while the boys practiced, Naomi kept finding her hands shaking.
It kept happening throughout the day, especially whenever her eyes found Riko, especially when her mind went back to the coffee shop rooftop.
Sitting down beside her, Oikawa took a long sip of his water.
"Oh!" Leaning over her, he took a look at her notebook. "What are you writing?"
"This page is mostly how serves are going, the other one is how many spikes are successful."

Looking at her hand, the one that held her pen, Oikawa noticed how much it was trembling. Putting down his bottle, Oikawa snatched the pen from her hand.
"Hey-!"
"Be quiet," he chuckled.
He took hold of her hand and held it between them, feeling the shakiness of her body on his own.
"What's got you so anxious?"
"It-it's Nothing. Please let go-"
"Hey-Itsu-Chan, it's fine."

Oikawa took off the cap of the pen with his mouth before spitting it to the floor.
"When I was little I used to have the worst panic attacks. This is what calmed me down."
He took the ballpoint pen and began to draw over her hands and fingers, little doodles of whatever came to his mind.
"I'm still sorry about your phone," he smiled, "I didn't mean to drop it."
"I-it's okay," she mumbled.
"I probably ruined your date with Iwa-Chan, didn't I? I'm really sorry."

The soft tone he used on her always made her heart flutter.
"You didn't ruin anything, Oikawa-San," she told him, watching the ink stick to her hand.
"You're still calling me that~" he teased, his lips grazing her ear, "Did Iwa-Chan tell you to be so rude?"
Letting out a nervous chuckle, Naomi shook her head, "What's wrong with my honorific for you? I'm not going to call you by your first name."
"Aww, but why not?"

Oikawa picked up the cap from the floor and put it back on the pen.
"I don't even call Iwaizumi by his first name. I'm not—I'm not that close to you."
Holding out her utensil, Oikawa smiled, "do you wanna be?"

Meeting Oikawa in the opposite direction of her usual path home, Naomi looked at the large banner hanging from the building in front of her.
"What is this place?"
"A place to bond," Oikawa cheered, taking her arm and leading her inside. The warm touch of his fingers was a pleasurable feeling.

The two teens walked into the gym to find a bunch of kids playing volleyball.
"I don't understand," Naomi questioned, looking up at Oikawa's proud face.
"This is what I do in my free time. Teach the next generation!"
"Okay..?"
"Come on, Itsu-Chan! It'll be fun!"
Before she could even protest, Oikawa pulled her towards the group of children who seemed very excited about his presence.

"Tōru!" Was the most popular name called out to him, but Naomi could tell that they loved him.
"You guys wanna meet my friend, Itsu-Chan?"
The kids began to cheer and smile when Oikawa tugged Naomi over. All of them wanted to ask her questions and get a good look at her.

Naomi would catch glimpses of Oikawa as he watched her talk with the kids and listen to all they had to say to her.
Oikawa has such a gentle smile. His eyes were as light as the sun as they observed her.
Naomi loved how much attention Oikawa was giving her. She loved that he had invited her somewhere alone.

It was like a date.

Standing against the wall while the kids began to practice, Naomi looked at her hand, the one Oikawa had left his graffiti on.
She saw little drawings of volleyballs and cats. There were very childish looking drawings of people who resembled that of Iwaizumi and Riko.
"You drew Iwaizumi like a pineapple," Naomi giggled, lifting up her hand to Oikawa.
"No, I didn't! That's just his little spikes!"
"Well, you sure didn't do yourself quite enough justice."

Her face froze, realizing the kind of comment she just said.
"I-I didn't mean-"
Oikawa took Naomi's hand and pointed to one of the drawings on her pointer.
"I drew your curls pretty well, didn't I? I think that makes up for it."
The curls of her hair were more just squiggles, but feeling her hand lie in Oikawa's was enough of a distraction not to care.

"Thanks for bringing me here, Oikawa-San," Naomi grinned, meeting the sweet brown of his eyes.
"Nuh, uh, Itsu-Chan. We're closer now. You should call me by my first name."
Naomi looked at the light pink of his lips that reminded her of roses. She always liked watching her nickname escape from his mouth.
After hearing of his request, Naomi pondered while admiring the soft look of his wavy hair as he fell onto his forehead.
Shaking her head, Naomi removed her hand from his and placed it at her side.

"I'm sorry, Oikawa-San. But I don't think we're close enough for me to call you that."