I Fell In Love With You On New Year's Eve

Chapter 19

Oikawa stood in front of Iwaizumi's house the day after graduation, trying to bring himself to knock on the door. Once he went inside, there was no going back. He raised his hand and banged it against the door a few times.

It was Iwaizumi's mother who greeted him. "Oh, Tooru, this is a pleasant surprise! Please, come in, come in," she said as she ushered him inside. "Hajime isn't quite home yet, but you're more than welcome to go wait for him in his room." She gave him a soft smile that made his heart ache.

"I, I know...Actually, mom, I was wondering if I could talk to you?"

She was obviously shocked, but continued softly, "of course, dear. I'll make us some tea."

Oikawa gave her a genuine smile. "That would be great."

Once they were seated at the table, mugs of mint tea in hand, Iwaizumi's mother leaned forward and asked the question that was on her mind. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"It's about Hajime."

"Ah, I figured as much. What about?"

"Has he ever talked to you about what he wanted to do after graduation? Like, any future plans or goals or even just something that he really wants to do someday?"

She smiled sadly, a pretty good idea of where this conversation was going. "No. No, he hasn't. For as long as I can remember, he's only ever wanted to be with you and support you. I've tried to push him in a direction of his own, but he was ignoring his head and only listening to his heart. Of course, I've always wanted him to have a dream of his own, but it's important that that's a decision that he makes for himself. I've made sure that he knows, however, that I will support him no matter what and that he can always fall back on me."

Oikawa looked away, and rested his face in his hands. "That, that's what I was afraid of."

"Tooru, honey, please look at me." She grabbed his hands, bringing them away from his face and holding them tightly. "You're going to Argentina alone, aren't you?"

"How did you know?" tears were threatening to fall.

"I think I've always known. Don't ask me how, but a mother always knows. And that goes for both of you. You're both my boys, and I will always be here for both of you."

"I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you, too. But I know that this is something that you need to do. Please don't worry yourself about him too much. He's going to be hurt, that much I know, but he'll be okay."

He pulled her into a tight hug and allowed himself to feel completely vulnerable for a moment, silently sobbing into her shoulder before pulling away and handing her an envelope that was addressed to Iwaizumi. "Can you please give this to him for me?"

"Of course."

Just then, Iwaizumi walked through the door. "Mom, I'm home!" he called out but stopped when he saw Oikawa standing in the kitchen with his mother. "What did I miss?" he asked nervously.

"Absolutely nothing," Oikawa wiped at his eyes and walked over to grab onto Iwaizumi's hands. "Hey, Hajime. Can we go up to your room? I, I need to talk to you about something."

"Oh, umm, I actually had something that I wanted to talk to you about, too."

"Okay. Let's go then."

On the night before graduation, Iwaizumi had been lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, while his brain moved a mile a minute. He was thinking about the future with no certainty. Up until recently, his plan had always been to stay with Oikawa and look after him, making sure that he was able to live out his dreams. Iwaizumi had figured that he would simply follow and, wherever he ended up, he would make the most of. But now, things were different. Now, he knew what he had to do. He'd tossed and turned all night, debating with himself and rethinking his decision, but every argument came to the same conclusion. As hard as it would be to say goodbye, he believed that there was at least one thing that he could now be certain about. He needed to tell Oikawa to leave without him. Iwaizumi figured that he would probably be pissed at first, but maybe they'd be able to make things work long-distance. But, he still believed that it was his fault that they'd lost the match against Karasuno that got them to this point and he would be damned if he held him back any more.