20th Year of December

Two Straps

18th July 2009

Being fawned upon was fun at first but after 6 hours of thanking people and accepting gifts, Tooru is getting tired and there's no more space in his bag. Iwaizumi would tell him that he's being dramatic and ungrateful but really, he doesn't even know half of these people.

Right now, he finally finds a semblance of peace in the gym. No one is here yet and Tooru enjoys that the only sound he can hear now is the sound of the volleyballs hitting the gym's floor.

"Oikawa-san? You're early today."

Tooru looked at Tobio who's looking at him excitedly. Tooru feels annoyed, he was just enjoying the few minutes of peace he had and his annoying junior just had to come and ruin that peace.

"If it isn't Tobio-chan. Why are you here so early anyway? Did you skip class?"

Tobio shook his head innocently, not catching on the sarcasm, "Kubo-sensei let us out early today so I immediately went to the gym. I'm glad that you're here Oikawa-san. I've been trying to find you,"

Tooru restrains himself from sighing. Of course, Tobio would fuss over him on his birthday. As if he wasn't already fussing over him on normal days, "Do you have another chocolate for me or something because I hate to tell you this but I already have way too much,"

Tobio's smile never left his face as he stood in front of Tooru, "Today is the last day of school so I was afraid that I won't be able to see you before summer vacation starts. It's a bit early but, happy birthday, Oikawa-san,"

In his hand is a volleyball phone strap. Tooru reaches out to take it. The ball is soft and when Tooru looks at it carefully, it seems to be handmade.

"Did you make this yourself?" Tooru asks incredulously. He couldn't believe that the volleyball obsessed Tobio would spend time doing something other than volleyball for him. Looking at the smiling face, Tooru's heart grows fonder.

"My grandpa taught me. He did it way neater though... But I tried my best,"

Tooru clenches the strap. Compared to the other gifts he receives, this one is cheaper, it's smaller, and yet it conveys more feelings. Tooru smiles fondly and ruffles Tobio's head.

"...Thank you, Tobio. I'll cherish it,"

He tried putting it on his phone but he gets worried that it might get lost like his previous alien strap and thus he keeps it in his drawer. He finds himself looking at it almost every day and his lips curl into a smile every time he looked at it.

After Tobio's death, he can no longer look at it anymore.

***

There are two of them.

In his hand is the strap he hastily put in his bag this morning while in the drawer lies an identical strap with the only difference being the one in the drawer looks new and the colour is still vibrant.

Tooru feels nauseous.

Neither of these is dreams.

The world where Tobio dies and the world where Tobio is still alive; they are both real.

Right now, Iwaizumi is downstairs talking to Tooru's mother while Tooru was forced to rest in his room. Immediately when Iwaizumi left his room, he checked his drawer where he knows he put his treasures.

It's right there, alongside his other trinkets as well as the picture of Tobio where he insists to Iwaizumi that he needed it to practice spiking at it though Iwaizumi just keeps grinning the whole time Tooru gives out his excuse.