Picturesque

“Two weeks until Spring High, huh?” I said, stretching my arms before resting them behind my head. Iwaizumi grunted in agreement, his attention currently locked on the cube-shaped puzzle in front of him; his boyfriend had given it to him for their one month anniversary and he had yet to solve it.

“Are you coming to watch me play?” He muttered, only completing one side, the rest still mismatched. He looked frustrated before slipping the game into his bag as I chuckled.

“Of course, as long as I possibly get the chance to talk with my best friend's other half, then I'll be fine!” I said cheerfully, watching as he rolled his eyes.

A smirk slid onto my lips as he said, “Please don't torture Hikashi as you somehow always seem to do. Besides, I wanted to make sure after what happened last time...” His face grew red and I looked away.

“I wouldn't miss one of my team's matches because of someone who has nothing to do with them,” I said, my tone on the border of being deathly calm and snapping.

After Interhigh, I was upset with Iwaizumi for a few weeks. I was not only angry with him, but I also hated myself for being manipulated so easily. Even though we were off to the side, where we thought no one would be, Kageyama still managed to find us. While I was on my own, Iwaizumi was confessed to by a boy a year younger than us; keeping me in mind, the two of them started dating because it was truthfully for the best.

The older male was quiet for a few minutes before saying, “I'm amazed that you're not booked for another shoot that day. You know, I've heard girls fawning over how great you are with a camera.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed, “I couldn't mope around forever, you know. I had to do something.” I hoisted my camera bag higher up on my shoulder without realizing it, Iwaizumi watching carefully.

As we approached my house, I pulled my keys out of my pocket, unlocking the door as he followed close behind. I sat my bags down on the couch, sighing before flopping down, and glanced up at the older male as I patted the seat beside me.

After he took a seat, I lifted my pant's leg, and adjusted the thin white brace on my right knee before he muttered, “Can I look over the photos you took today?”

A smile spread across my lips as I pulled my expensive camera out of my bag. I had recently dipped into my savings to buy one of my own instead of borrowing the school's and since then, if Iwaizumi and I spent the afternoon together, I always allowed him to look over the photographs and critique them.

He flipped through the photos, muttering something about how many pictures that I had took of the night sky before he found one that caused him to become very quiet. I watched as his finger hovered over the delete button, face turning scarlet in what I couldn't decide was fury or embarrassment. A smirk spread across my lips before he seethed, “When did you even take this?”

On the display was an image of Iwaizumi and his boyfriend, Hikashi, lost in a kiss. My childhood friend held the younger male tightly, arms wrapped around his waist with Hika-chan's fingers laced in his spiky hair.

“I saw an opportunity and took it. You have to admit that it's a lovely photograph,” I crossed my arms in front of my chest, proud.

“I'm going to get rid of it,” he said, almost pressing the button before I tried to gently smack his hand away, yelling, “I put a lot of thought into my pictures!”

He just stared at me, pushing delete without another word.

“Mean, Iwa-chan!”


I stood on the balcony above the gym floor, watching as Iwaizumi commanded the team's practice. My eyes darted over my former teammates as they played a game against one another before someone in a black jacket approached me.

“Aren't you a little out of your territory, Refreshing-kun? Last time I checked, Karasuno isn't just a block away from here,” I muttered, voice cocky as I didn't even move my gaze towards him. I had seen his face more than once and I knew that he had formerly played as the main setter for Karasuno before Kageyama came along.

His chocolate brown eyes bore into me as I saw him chew at his lip before muttering, “I just came to watch Seijou play. We don't have plans to lose a Spring High and our captain just wasn't able to make it today. Besides, I was hoping to see the man who broke our setter.”

I whipped my head over to finally rest my gaze on him as I saw that his eyes were dark. He wasn't looking over at me, but I knew that if looks could kill, I'd be dead right now. His grip was tight on the black rail as he barely spoke, “He and Hinata got into a fight because they both thought that they weren't good enough and they refused to work together. Kageyama blamed most of it on the Interhigh match with your school, but I had never forgot the way he cried after that losing fight. It was so bad that he refused to eat with us afterwards, even though we were all in tears.”

The gray-haired male seemed distant before he continued, “He wanted to approach you, his former senpai, and ask how you were so much of a genius at setting, but from the look on your face, he must have never showed up. He and Hinata have reconciled since then though, and I must say, their quick is so much more calculated than before. That's my story to why I'm out here.”

“What makes you think that I'm the one who broke him, Refreshing-kun?” My eyes shifted back to the game as my mind slightly raced. Kageyama was going to come see me, but he backed out because...

“If there's one thing I'm good at Oikawa-san, it's being able to pick up on what's on my teammates' minds. When I was standing on the sidelines during Interhigh, I caught him looking up at you more than once; the same happened when he was subbed out and told to watch how I played. On top of that, it wasn't just a simple look; you couldn't miss the emotions running through his eyes for miles.” The male said as I scratched the back of my head.

“Hah, I have no idea what you're talking about,” I bluffed before feeling his eyes rest on me.

He sighed softly, leaning further against the bar before he muttered, “You can deny it all you want, but this entire time, I've seen the exact same look in your eyes since the moment I mentioned his name.”

I tried to hide my thoughts as I scoffed, “I think you need to get your eyes checked, Sugawara-san. I don't care about a single hair on my former kouhai's head; he's a damn good player, I'll give him that, but nothing else matters.” I knew the male could sense my agitation when I spat out his actual name.

He hummed softly in disbelief as I saw practice finishing up on the gym below. Iwaizumi's eyes met mine, slowly trailing towards the male next to me before I said, “Well, it was nice seeing you, Refreshing-kun, but I must be off. Give your other teammates my warmest wishes and good luck at Spring High. Be prepared to have your asses handed to you while you're there.”

I gave him a small wave, before walking away, my skin crawling as I could feel his gaze on me until I was out of sight.


“Hika-chan,” I smiled as I approached Iwaizumi's other half. As always, I rode with the volleyball team over to the tournament rather than taking the bus with the rest of my schoolmates. The younger male gave me a slight wave, eyes trained to the empty court below.

“Who are we playing today?” The younger male asked as I fiddled with my camera, “Date Tech and after we win, hopefully, Karasuno.”

My eyes locked on Iwa-chan as he was the first to step out onto the court, head held high. The team followed closely behind him, preparing to warm up as he knew that we were going to have to put up a fight to win against the “Iron Wall.” His eyes looked up at his boyfriend before I waved with enthusiasm. He looked away, annoyed as a smile spread across my lips. Over the years, I had noticed that the more riled up he was, the better he was at spiking; that was something I had learned almost from the start.

“You seem to be putting a lot of confidence into your words, Oikawa-san,” Hikashi said, eyes not leaving the spiky-haired male.

“Of course! I was once their captain after all! Besides, I've known Iwa-chan my whole life and I know he's been taking care of my team.” I hummed, flicking on the power switch to my camera, checking to see how many more photos my card could hold.

Hikashi was silent for a few moments before looking over and smiling, “I trust your word then, Oikawa-san.”

I chuckled softly and said, “I hope so, Hika-chan.”


“Go, Iwaizumi-san!” Hikashi yelled, a blush dusting his cheeks. The entire game he had been cheering for the older male, trying his best to hide the affection in his brown eyes. None of our peers knew of his and Iwaizumi's relationship and I knew that the two preferred to keep it that way.

Right now, we were playing our third set against Karasuno after they had put up quite a fight during the first match; our team had pulled through during the second match after we had put in our “secret weapon.”

It was my recommendation to Iwaizumi that we brought the second year, even though he was never much of a “team player”; he was cocky and reckless, but he knew how to fight if you pointed him in the right direction. I knew he'd work well with my childhood friend anyways as I knew the younger male saw him as his senpai.

My eyes locked on the scoreboard as my palms were sweaty. Karasuno was ahead of us in the battle and they were almost a few points away from winning the game. We followed closely behind by one point, continuously neck-in-neck with the other team.

Slowly, I glanced over at the fighting teams, eyes locking on the ball that was being jostled back and forth. Refreshing-kun had been brought in before our scores lined up with each other and it was interesting watching the two setters on their side of the court. Another feature to their team was Shrimpy-chan's speed; it never ceased to amaze me.

Refreshing-kun saved the ball as I noticed how they wouldn't be able to fall through with their previous play before Kageyama set the ball, my team preparing to block it. I watched the blue-eyed male carefully, his fingers almost touching the ball before he faked sending it over to one of the spikers. Fury raced in Iwaizumi's eyes as he attempted to keep it from hitting the ground, but failed.

Karasuno cheered loudly, meeting their match point as I could feel the tension coming from my team below. My childhood friend met my eyes and I gave him a thumbs-up before he tore his gaze away. I knew he was frustrated; the opposing team had grown so much since Interhigh and slowly, it was showing that there was almost no chance that we were going to win.

Hikashi looked as if he had been holding his breath before I said, “It's been a long time since I've seen that kind of anger in his eyes.” I scanned the court below, noticing that Karasuno had taken a time out, Iwaizumi's agitation coming to a boil.

I chuckled softly to myself as the younger male asked, “Should I ask when that was?”

I looked over at the other team, catching Kageyama's eyes as he took a drink of water, throwing his head to the side twice as if he wanted to speak to me in private. Faintly, I nodded, knowing that he meant after the game before my attention turned back to Hikashi as I muttered, “That's a story for another time.”

The ball went up again as the time-out ended and I pulled out my camera, flipping it on and holding it up, “It's either we make it or break it right now.”

Team from team, the object moved between hands as my heart stopped, the room almost at a standstill as I saw the ball fly past Iwaizumi's hands when he tried to stop Shrimpy-chan's spike.

My third year, I planned on leading my team to nationals, but it fell through when I ruined my knee. Here I had to stand though, watching my best friend's last chance to step onto that big stage fade to nothing as my ears rang with the sound of the ball hitting the floor, the murder of crows cheering loudly.

I watched as he stiffly shook Daichi-san's hand before turning away, walking towards Coach Irihata. I knew the coach had very few words to say to them as tears rolled down my teammates' cheeks and Hikashi clutched a fist over his chest before I knew he was rushing down to console his boyfriend. I, on the other hand, packed up my bag and began to look for a flurry of black and orange as I exited the stands.

It didn't take me long to find Kageyama standing next to a set of water fountains, lips pulled in a tight line. His arms were crossed in front of his chest as he didn't even greet me when he said, “I wish I could have played this game against you, Oikawa-san.”

I couldn't help, but roll my eyes as my cocky smile kicked in when I said, “I suppose a game against senpai and kouhai would have been nice, but it's my fault I didn't take care of my injury. I'm amazed you even want to speak to me after what happened at...”

Blue eyes burned holes into me as he said, “There's actually something I've been wanting to talk to you about... something about you that's been bothering me and--”

“Kageyama, we won, we won, we won!” A flash of orange ran towards us and I was shocked as I saw Shrimpy-chan's lips lock with the taller male's.

“Hinata, I--” Kageyama reprimanded, voice stopping when I took a step back, Shrimpy-chan's eyes darkening when he looked at me, clutching the hand of the boy who held my affections. I had saw a certain look in his eyes when he ran up to Kageyama, a look that I had saw in Iwaizumi's eyes more than once when we fooled around

Kageyama opened his mouth to say something, but I fumbled out my words first, “I-I need to get going... We have to go back to school, because, you know, the tournament is done for us sadly.” They forced their way out of my throat as I tried to play it off and a certain expression crossed his face before fear struck my heart and I knew that I needed to get away from him.

Quickly, I began to walk away, shouting, “Congrats, Tobio-chan; you and your team deserved it!”

I didn't even realize that I was crying until I ran straight into Hikashi, heading out to the bus. His eyes were red, but he didn't say a word before pulling me close, not even asking the reason for my tears, only just telling me that everything was going to be fine.