Aeonian - Oikawa Toru x Reader

Ch. 05 - Welcome to Aoba Johsai

"Come on, Toru," I said, acting more exasperated than I really was. "Don't pout."

"But how come you can't tell me first?"

"Because we already agreed to do it this way," I told him, and I could see his next whine coming from a mile away. "Do you honestly think Haji will be happy if we end up telling each other first and break the promise we all made?"

"No," he said, still pouting.

"Ok," I said slowly, "and what does Haji do to you when he's not happy?"

Toru was hesitant to reply. "He usually hits me."

"So then, if you will: why would you put yourself in that situation to begin with?"

"Because I want to know," he said, perking up a little as we walked. We were heading to the park - and because Toru and I had spent another night stargazing since the weather had been so nice, we were heading there together. What he was making such a big deal out of were our letters of acceptance from the high schools we applied and tested for. We'd all selected independently, and today, we were finally going to tell each other.

"I want to know where you're going, too," I said, reaching over and patting his arm when he latched onto my own. "Just a few more minutes, and we'll have our answers. Ok?"

"I just don't want to be without you guys," he said, only continuing to pout. "Is that so wrong?"

"Of course not," I assured him, trying to be a continual voice of reason amongst his childishness. "But even if we end up going to different high schools, we'll all remain close friends - right? We wouldn't let distance get between us."

"Well, that's obvious," he mumbled, and I chuckled lightly.

"So you've got nothing to worry about," I said gently. "Now come on, stand up straight and get that pout off your face. You'll have chronic back pain and face wrinkles by our third year if you keep that up. With a frightened yelp, he stood up straight and schooled his face into one of neutrality, making me laugh. "There you go," I said. "Do you feel better now?"

"I'd feel better if you had a nickname for me," he grumbled, and I leaned closer to hear him better.

"Huh? What was that?"

"You've got a nickname for Iwa-chan," he pressed. "But not me."

"I call you by your first name, though," I said. "Isn't that good enough? You asked me to call you by your first name."

"Yeah, and so did Iwa-chan," he said. "And then you went and gave him a nickname."

"Oh, Haji?"

"Yes! But you don't have one for me!"

"Ah, I'm sorry," I said earnestly. "I just shortened Hajime's name so it would match yours. Two syllables, four letters."

"..."

"Toru?"

"Oh."

I giggled lightly. "Didn't think of that, did you?"

"Still," he said haughtily, "you ought to consider my feelings in all of this."

"Mm-hm," I hummed playfully. "Right. And what would you have me do, then?"

"Come up with a nickname for me!"

"Alright, alright," I said. "You call him Iwa-chan, and I'm (Y/n)-chan. So... Toru-chan? No, it doesn't fit." In my periphery, I could see him go from a grin at the nickname to completely crestfallen as I dropped it, but I did not mention it, and he did not say a word. "Oiks? No, that's just silly."