What He Really Needed - IwaOi

Chapter 1: "No, Because I'm Going To Japan"

Iwaizumi's POV

Iwaizumi was sitting on the couch; facing his TV in his small, surprisingly clean apartment, still located in Miyagi. He was gaping at his TV in disbelief. He was watching his childhood best friend: Oikawa Tooru, holding his bad knee with a look of horror on his face. Iwaizumi immediately knew exactly what had happened. He had looked out for Oikawa since they were tiny children and has been through his bad knee giving out many times, but this time, Iwaizumi wasn't there to help Oikawa. In fact, he was 18,000 km away from Oikawa at this time, and he knew this wasn't good. Looking at Oikawa as the camera panned over to him, he knew something wasn't right. Oikawa had a facial expression that embodied pain like no-other time he had seen before. The first thing Iwaizumi thought of was Oikawa's knee giving out...forever. He cringed at that thought. His best friend's dreams would be crushed if he wasn't able to play volleyball again. Since Iwaizumi had known Oikawa from when he was six to now, Oikawa was a volleyball fanatic. He felt a pit in his stomach, knowing that if Oikawa couldn't play volleyball anymore, he would be devastated, and Iwaizumi couldn't bear the thought of Oikawa like that. He was his best friend, afterall, and maybe... a little more. At least to Iwaizumi. He tried to shake off the thought of Oikawa not being able to play forever and focused on the TV again. Oikawa's look of dread and agony slowly faltered as Iwaizumi watched his eyes grow heavy and close, all strength in his body leaving him. Oikawa had fainted. Iwaizumi clenched his fists slightly and took a deep breath. That had never happened before. Fuck. He bit his tongue. The first thing he thought of was to text Makki and Matsun, but to his surprise, Makki had already texted him. "Iwaizumi, you're watching Oikawa's game right?" Read a text from Makki. Hesitantly, Iwaizumi replied with, "yeah, he just fainted from his knee giving out. I saw that." Makki quickly responded with, "I know I haven't seen his knee give out that many times, but I've never seen him pass out before. Have you?" Iwaizumi hesitated, yet again. It ended up taking him a minute to respond with, "no. I have a bad feeling about this." Everything about that statement was true except for the bad part. He didn't have a bad feeling; he had a terrible feeling. When looking at Oikawa as his knee gave out, it was a situation like no other and he knew that Oikawa was not going to be okay.

He sat there, wallowing in his own thoughts. Others would wonder why he was so distraught over someone else's feelings, even if it was his best friend, but Iwaizumi knew. Iwaizumi had known for years now, since before high school. Iwaizumi was in love with Oikawa. Desperately. But, he knew Oikawa didn't feel the same; so he kept it hidden. He cherished the friendship he and Oikawa had, though he wanted more; more was selfish. Oikawa doesn't feel the same. That thought wrapped around his head every time he and Oikawa spoke. He sighed briefly, before getting up and grabbing a glass of water. He still had his eyes focused on the TV. After Oikawa had been taken out, the players continued; swapping Oikawa for another setter. Within minutes, Argentina had lost; not surprising Iwaizumi in the slightest. Oikawa has always brought out the best in the players he played with, so with him gone it was kind of... empty. Like a whole chunk of their team was missing. Iwaizumi turned off the TV and just sat there. He wasn't really sure what to do. Normally, he'd text Oikawa and berate him with worried and angry messages about how stupid he is for letting it get to the point where it gave out, but considering Oikawa was passed out and probably wouldn't wake up for a couple hours, he decided to wait for a bit, going to check his college schedule to keep himself busy for the time-being. He would text him later, for sure.

Oikawa's POV

Oikawa woke up, clutching onto the white hospital pillow and slowly sat up. There was no hesitation when he ripped the covers down to see his bad knee, still badly bruised and his calf now a little swollen. He looked over to the small, metallic silver table next to his bed and reached for his phone. It was the first time he had looked at it since he had gotten to the hospital. Turning it over, he saw he had 12 missed calls from Iwaizumi, 145 messages from Iwaizumi, and 5 messages from Makki. He smiled weakly at the crazy amount of messages Iwaizumi sent. Though it was weak, it wasn't fake and he truly appreciated how much Iwaizumi cared for him. Unlocking his phone, he immediately went to Iwaizumi's contact and replied, not caring to read any messages Iwaizumi had sent, "hey, Iwa-chan." He was going to say, 'I'm okay', but he knew that wasn't true, and he wasn't going to lie to his best friend. Oikawa avoided lying to his best abilities, unless it was petty. Of course, he screwed up a couple times, everyone does, but now that he's reflecting... he's lied to Iwaizumi the most, and not just about petty stuff. He once lied about his sexuality, which was eventually revealed, but it did take a bit. Why did I lie about that? Iwa-chan had already come out as bisexual at that point. I knew he'd be accepting, so why? He had never really thought about it before. Why was I so scared to tell him I was gay? Oikawa felt a small buzzing, and looked down at his phone. "OIKAWA YOU BITCH YOU DIDN'T ANSWER ME ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Iwaizumi replied. Oikawa giggled a bit at the intensity of the message. "Well, not really," is all he could reply. His smile faded as he remembered.

Forever.

His eyes teared up again as he looked down at the ... symbol animating. Waiting for Iwaizumi to answer. His next message broke Oikawa, "I hope this feeling is wrong, but I get the feeling you won't be able to play again. You know, forever?" The tears began falling again. He knew it would be forever, but seeing it written down was like hearing it for the first time again. He dropped his phone, hearing it fall almost silently on the bed and as he hugs a pillow tightly, sobbing quietly. He sobbed for almost an hour straight, not stopping for anything. He had heard his phone ding multiple times, but he wasn't able to let go of the pillow he was crying into.

Once he let out his last sob, he reached for his phone again, head pounding from dehydration. Multiple questioning messages came from Iwaizumi, wondering why he went silent for an entire hour. Oikawa began typing again, slowly and simply with only seven words, "I can no longer play volleyball, forever." After pressing send, Oikawa felt like he was going to cry again, but was unable to. It's like he had run out of tears. The typing animation popped up again, disappearing and coming back multiple times, before, "I'm sorry, Oikawa," popped up on the screen. Oikawa paused. And sent, "what are you sorry for? It's my fault, not yours." He felt dread creep up on him, more so than before. It was his fault. "Oikawa, I'm coming to Argentina," Iwaizumi sent. No. He thought. Wait, no he typed it. And sent. Fuck, I didn't mean to send that. "Why not?" Iwaizumi replied. Why not? He thought about it. I made a mistake coming to Argentina. I should've found a team in Japan. I should go to Japan. It's only right, right? "Because, I'm going to Japan," Oikawa texted. It's not like he planned this out, he just thought of it, but... it felt right. "You sure?" "Yeah." "Okay, 'Kawa. I love you." Oikawa paused. He smiled. Yeah I'm sure you do, but not as much as I do. Wait... what? Oikawa paused at the thought in his mind. What do I mean by that? Oikawa shook his head, replying back, "Love you too, Iwa-chan." Now that Oikawa thought about it, wait I'm going to Japan. Oikawa paused and laughed at his own stupidity. At least I can afford it right now. He then opened up his texts with Makki, simply saying, "I won't be able to play volleyball anymore, I'm coming to Japan soon. I'll let you know when." He had nothing else to say. Keeping it simple was the best for his mental health and physical health, after all that headache from crying was still pounding.

When the doctor walked into Oikawa's room to check up on him, Oikawa asked when he could be discharged. "In about a week. You'll be able to walk soon, but take it easy, this is a big injury. Knowing this, Oikawa bought a ticket for a week and a half from the present, excited to go to Japan to see Matsun, Makki and Iwa-chan, but frowning at the reason. Why'd it have to be for this reason? Oikawa wasn't even close to getting over the news.

Forever,

Forever,

Forever,

Forever,

Forever.

Crying himself to sleep became a common occurrence for the next week, before eventually getting discharged and starting to prepare for his flight in three days, now.