I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ANYMORE!!

[withease]

[So it's like... getting late. Let's say it's around 9:00 PM on a pleasant weekend and all's quiet and peaceful BUT NOT FOR LONG because suddenly there are footsteps loudly making their way toward Iwaizumi's door.

And then it's being thrown open as Oikawa barges in and drops down on Iwaizumi's bed, his face buried in a pillow like he owns the place as he grunts out some weird, garbled greeting.

He couldn't even be bothered to text that he was coming over, that's how considerate he is.]

Comments

[cornerstones]

[What a confusing statement. Iwaizumi looks down, a frown on his lips.]

I don't have anywhere else to be.

[Which is true enough. His social life isn't anywhere near as active as Oikawa's, and while he could call up Matsukawa or Hanamaki easily enough, it's also late enough in the evening that he's not particularly inclined to put the effort into dragging himself out of the house.]

[withease]

[He matches Iwaizumi's gaze steadily and wants to believe that this, having him all to himself, had no expiration date.

But he knows better.]

You know, I've been thinking a lot lately...

[In the barest of pauses, Oikawa's expression turns unpleasant, the smile he'd worn so easily now slipping off.]

—About university.

[cornerstones]

[And there that moment goes, muddled by some unseen factor he can't pinpoint. It's happened more and more lately much to his irritation, and repeated questioning's earned him nothing except a pointed jab that he might be going senile with all his old man ways. Why's all this have to be so complicated?

The frown doesn't leave his face and neither does the confusion.]

What about it? If it's not being scouted to one, you don't have anything to worry about.

[Like anyone wouldn't immediately want Oikawa, really.]

[withease]

[A warm feeling spreads across his chest and he's aware of his heart picking up in speed once he registers Iwaizumi's response. He sounds so sure, almost like he's daring the world to try and prove him wrong. Oikawa can't help but stare dumbly up at him, remembers using the word invincible once upon a time when it had been just the two of them and wonders why he thinks of it now.

No, he knows why. This was his best friend, the fixed presence in his life that he could always rely on, could always turn to when he was wavering and undecided and in need of something solid.

His gaze falls, shifts away to stare pointedly at nothing. Anything but Iwaizumi.]

Mm, it's not that. [He picks at the fabric of his shirt and struggles back on track.] Have you thought about where you want to go, Iwa-chan?

[cornerstones]

[Positive attention focused on him for once, how rare.

But instead of making any sort of mockery of it, Iwaizumi takes the question seriously, falling silent as he tugs loosely at a few more strands of Oikawa's hair. Has he thought about where he wants to go? Of course, and maybe a little too much, if he's honest. The chances of him receiving any sort of sports scholarship sits firmly on the side of none, hence his determination to do well in his classes and keep his grades high. But without the draw of volleyball, there's other things to think about: the type of atmosphere he wants to surround himself with, an area of focus for his studies, what he wants to do post-university. It's all rather messy still, no single concrete plan sticking out at him yet, but he'll deal with things as they come.]

Not really. There are a few smaller places in Tokyo I'm looking at but their exam score cutoff is pretty high.

[withease]

[Tokyo. His mind works furiously to go through the list of offers he'd gotten so far. It's nothing too long or too grand with the way he'd never made it to the crucial scouts occupying nationals, but it's enough to keep him undecided and enough to satisfy him when he realizes that yes, he's got a few offers from their nation's capital.

Him and Iwaizumi in Tokyo, hah. It's hard to imagine either of them in the big city.

It's hard to imagine them in different schools.

Even so, he manages a reassuring smile, almost too at ease with the ambitious answer. Oikawa's always been known as the hard-worker, but Iwaizumi worked just as hard and excelled just as well. He only happened to know when to take a break.]

If that's where you want to go, you'll make it happen.

[cornerstones]

[Small town boys living the big city life. It's terrifying and exhilarating and if getting in to one of those schools means he has to throw away every Friday night to boring studying he'll gladly do it. And in any case, he has other reasons to want to go to Tokyo.]

Someone has to babysit you, after all. Make sure you don't overwork yourself again.

[Emphasized with a sharp tug at Oikawa's hair. It's such a minor reason, compared to everything else, but he honestly can't imagine being separated from Oikawa and having to hear news about him secondhand.]