Different Kind of Beautiful

Chapter 12

I let out a small yawn, curled up on my bed with a soft blanket and one of the volleyball books Oikawa had lent me. There was a notebook of my own notes sitting at my side, the pencil tucked in the spiral binding so I wouldn't lose it. Through both his personal notes and what I was seeing in my own research, I was staring to feel like I had a better grasp of the sport.

My parents were out of the house for the day, running errands and checking in on a few leads for some harder to find books. The quiet air of the house was disrupted only by the soft ticking of the clock on the wall. In my opinion, it was turning out to be one of the best ways to spend the weekend. All assignments had been completed, chores were done, with nothing left to do but read.

I turned the page right as I heard my phone go off. Not very far from the end of the chapter, I continued to read. It went off again. I glanced over at the device. Luckily, the remaining paragraph was nothing more than a reminder to reference another book, allowing me to quickly close it and check the messages that had come in.

Oikawa
Hey, Anzu-chan! Are you busy?

Oikawa
I'm gonna head over since Tanji-san told me you're probably just reading.

I sighed, staring at the messages. The brunette knew how much I enjoyed reading uninterrupted. It was hard to stay annoyed with him for too long when I knew he probably had a reason for coming over without any warning. If there wasn't, I had no qualms about hitting him with one of my books and he knew it too.

Hearing a knock at the door, I quickly viewed out of bed and made my way downstairs, checking that it really was him standing outside before I opened the door.

"Hey," he chirped the moment the door swung open.

I raised my eyebrows at him, searching for any sign of an injury or otherwise immediately pressing issue. "Why the sudden visit?"

Oikawa laughed, scratching the back of his neck. "Nothing much, just wondering if you wanted to hang out. I hear the park looks pretty nice right now."

"Sure. Just give me a moment to change," I sighed. This is what friends did I supposed. Do things for each other even when they interfere with other plans. I supposed it wasn't the worst thing that could have happened. The books he loaned me could wait. I glanced at him as I closed the door, noticing how his eyes seemed a bit red. There was a reason he had asked to hang out.

I quickly pulled my hair back and replaced my leggings with jeans. I threw my wallet and his book into a bag before turning off any lights and grabbing the house keys. He waited patiently as I locked the door and sent a message to my parents, wide grin on his face.

"Alright, let's go," I mused, letting him lead the way.

Oikawa chattered on about the evening he had spent with his sister, revealing that he was actually an uncle. He talked about his nephew with a kind of annoyed devotion that only family could produce. I listened as he proudly bragged that the boy was playing volleyball as well, calling himself the ultimate role-model. I immediately replied that Iwaizumi would say otherwise, earning a small pout from him.

We sat on one of the benches in the park, watching the younger kids run around on the playground that was further away. I glanced over to noticed that his eyes were glazed over.

"Oikawa?"

He blinked and turned back to me with a grin. "Yeah?"

"Is everything alright?" I asked, taking off my glasses to wipe off the lenses. "You seem pretty out of things today."

I was a bit startled to hear him let out a bitter chuckle. Suddenly his expression seemed so much sadder than it had been a moment ago. I immediately turned to face him properly, completely unsure of what to do.

"My girlfriend broke up with me."

I blinked, repeating his words in my head for a moment. "You had a girlfriend?"

He glared lightly at me, no real venom in his gaze. "Yeah, I did. Why are you so surprised?"

"After the chaos of how we first met?" I replied, shaking my head. "A lot of girls thought you were trying to find your soul mate or something."

"Yeah, she was a bit upset about that," he sighed. I watched as he reached up and ruffled his hair, lips twisting together. "I guess it isn't a surprise that she broke up with me."

I shook my head, turning my gaze back to the playground. "Jealous fangirls comes with the territory of hanging around you, which I think she would have expected. Did she give you a specific reason?"

"I'm too focused on volleyball."

"I'm sorry, but that is the stupidest reason to break up with someone that I've ever heard," I told him. He seemed a bit surprised at my words. "Everyone at our school knows you're the captain of the team and care a lot about the sport. Either she's oblivious or that was a lie."

He stared down at the ground. "She doesn't go to our school so she wouldn't know much about the team."

"You know what I think?" I mused, waiting for any kind of response from him. After a moment, his brown eyes glanced back up to me. "I think she realized how big of a dork you are and panicked."

He snickered a bit. "I'm not a dork."

"You are totally a dork," I argued. "But seriously, you should date someone that understands how much volleyball means to you."

"Thanks," he murmured, leaning back and stretching out his arms. "It still hurts though. At least you were nicer than Iwa-chan. He hung up on me almost right away."

I gave him a small grin, wracking my head for someway to distract him as he began to drift off into his thoughts again. I quickly pulled the book from my bag and moved closer to his side.

"While you're here, I need you to explain some things to me," I said, flipping through the pages. I watched as his eyes lit up slightly and he shifted to better see the pages.

"Of course," he eagerly replied, a more relaxed grin landed on his face as he focused on the page and the notes he had taken before. I grinned myself before throwing out a question, listening carefully to his explanation despite knowing the answer.