Chapter Text
In the end, even after all of Iwaizumi’s sincerity, the middle blocker had merely shook his head and laughed, saying he was wrong.
Iwaizumi knew he wasn’t.
And deep down, Tendou must’ve known it too.
The ebony-haired boy sighed as he walked down the empty sidewalk. One day, Tendou would realize his love wasn’t so unrequited. And Iwaizumi hoped it would come soon. Even though he didn’t know everything that happened to him on the court earlier, it was obvious it had something to do with Ushijima.
Though, if anything, Iwaizumi was glad he’d been there at the time. From what he could gather, Ushijima hasn’t made a move on Tendou but instead is very caught up with Oikawa. And seeing how he’s liked him ever since his first year, this wasn’t a new occurrence for the redhead. It annoyed and killed Iwaizumi a little. But then, he also felt a little weirded out by the fact that he was this invested in other people’s love lives.
Before he could think of anything more, he heard an all too familiar sound of a volleyball dropping on the gym floor.
He narrowed his eyes as he walked back into the gym that he’d just passed on his way back to the dorms. Bracing himself to find Oikawa overworking himself again, he didn’t expect to find their libero on the court instead.
He was panting—hard, way too hard. Iwaizumi paused in the doorway at the sight. He was hunched over, with his hands gripping his knees tightly. Sweat was pouring down the side of his face, but Watari only bit his lip and glared at the volleyball like it’d personally attacked him.
And he was still in his jersey.
And it.. reminded him a little too much of Oikawa.
“Watari?” Iwaizumi called from the entrance, keeping his voice strong.
The boy looked up and his eyes widened as he tore his gaze away from the ball. “Iwaizumi-san?”
“What’re you doing here so late, man?” The spiker asked with a slight smile, walking closer.
“Oh, I was just practicing.” He replied as he stood up to his full height.
It was always the same excuse.
“Practicing? You’re already good at what you do, Watari.” He told him truthfully.
He chuckled and blushed for a moment but then he shook his head. “I.. yeah, I know. I’m just trying to get better. No harm in improving, right?”
No harm.. Iwaizumi stared at him for a moment. His mind flew back to that vivid night. When Iwaizumi was supposed to be sleeping, he was giving himself wrinkles worrying about whether or not Oikawa would be okay. If only Watari knew that there was a fine line between determination and desperation, and frankly, most people always overlooked it.
It was always, just one more ball! Until it turned into, just another hour. Until it was I’m not done yet, Iwa.
Iwaizumi put on a smile for him. “None at all. But it’s late now, and as an athlete you need sleep.”
Watari opened his mouth to protest but the ace shut him up with just the quirk of his eyebrow.
He looked down and frowned, nodding. Iwaizumi almost felt bad for him.
It took around five minutes to get all the volleyballs cleaned up, so Iwaizumi waited. He also waited to make sure Watari wouldn’t try to practice more.
“Have you had dinner?” He asked as the two of them walked back down the sidewalk.
In the corner of his eye, Iwaizumi could see him freeze for a long split second, before he threw on a quick smile and nodded. It was as if Watari took him for a fool.
“Good, good.” Iwaizumi responded breezily before making them both turn the wrong way.
“Er.. aren’t the dorms the other way?” He questioned.
“Yep.”
Silence fell between the two of them as Watari hesitantly walked a few paces behind Iwaizumi’s confident strides.
Soon, he turned and faced him with a grin. “I haven’t eaten though, so we’re taking a quick detour. That fine with you?”
His mouth formed an ‘O’ as he nodded quickly.
It wasn’t like Iwaizumi to keep one of his kouhais out late. But he’d been finding himself doing more odd things lately. And if anyone would observe keenly, they’d see that normally, Iwaizumi didn’t do odd things.
🏐. *. ⋆
The kitchen itself wasn’t open, naturally, but the pantry that was kept in a separate room was said to be open for anyone to take food from at any time. There, he led him and his underclassman. It didn’t withhold anything filling of course, there were no nutritionally balanced meals anybody could just take or anything of the sort. But there were boxes of granola bars and bags of fruit, there was even some healthier crackers and a few low-calorie chips on the top shelf. Iwaizumi took a little bit of everything. Two granola bars, one apple, one banana, whole grain crackers, and a small bag of chips.
“Here.” Iwaizumi said, giving Watari one granola bar.
“Uh.. what’s this for?”
“Oh, I accidentally took an extra, want it?”
Watari shrugged in faux nonchalance, but Iwaizumi saw the other boy smile clearly when he wasn’t looking. The two of them sat on a nearby bench outside because food inside the dorms wasn’t permitted.
While they ate, Iwaizumi stole subtle glances at his teammate. Watari was known for his positive demeanor and outlook on practically everything, not just on their team but at their school and among his peers as well. And yet the unfamiliar, angry eyes he saw on Watari in the gym came back to Iwaizumi as if to haunt him. Not once had he ever seen the libero so distressed and it was more than just unsettling for Iwaizumi. He would always wholeheartedly prefer seeing the usual, exciting grin take over his face rather than seeing frustration and disappointment eat at his features.
A stomach lowly rumbling snapped him out of his thoughts, and with one more glance at the latter did he realize that Watari had long since finished eating, with his granola bar wrapper disposed at his side.
After a minute or so, Iwaizumi let out a small, irritated groan, catching the attention of Watari whilst simultaneously making way for his next mini-plan. The libero turned his head towards him, shooting him a confused gaze.
Iwaizumi rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. “Damn, I didn’t realize I grabbed a banana.” He took the yellow thing, showing it to Watari with distaste.
Luckily, instead of asking how in the hell he didn’t register that he was holding a yellow crescent-shaped fruit when they left the pantry, Watari simply laughed. “You don’t like bananas?”
“Hate them. They’re just too mushy.” A lie. Iwaizumi loved them. But who was watching, really?
He laughed again and Iwaizumi felt a small smile fight its way onto his own face. He’d say it now and say it time and time again, Iwaizumi would always prefer a joyful Watari rather than a moody one.
“I’ll take it if you don’t want it.” He said, hope slightly edging onto his tone.
Iwaizumi shrugged, giving him the banana immediately. “Suit yourself.” He responded with the same fake disgust.
After that, Iwaizumi finished his apple rather quickly and opened his chips and crackers. He took a few bites of both before sighing contentedly for the both of them to hear.
“You full?” The libero asked not so subtly.
Iwaizumi nodded, looking at his food.
“I’ll take it.” Watari said quickly.
Iwaizumi chuckled at his swiftness, then pushed the rest of the crackers and chips towards him.
“Go crazy.”
The other ate rapidly, only taking a few minutes before he finished both snacks. It wasn’t exactly the best dinner for a growing boy like Watari—much less an athlete. But at the same time he really had no other option. The kitchen was closed and the only thing available were snacks. And what was even worse was that Iwaizumi didn’t quite know if Watari had problems when it came to eating. As much as he didn’t want to believe a close friend would suffer from such issues, he’d also lied straight to his face about it. So there was really no way of knowing for sure.
But yet, at the end of the night, when the two of them had made their ways back to their dorm and changed into something comfier, Watari, albeit after everything, still went to bed with food in his stomach. And Iwaizumi, although not nearly as full nor relaxed from how much emotional conflict he’d been through in one day, he drifted off to sleep with a small but light satisfied feeling in his gut.