Childhood friends

24. What They Don't Know Doesn't Hurt Them

By this point in time, the second and third years of the Aoba Johsai's boys' volleyball club have long since forgotten that your childhood best friend - now boyfriend - goes to Shiratorizawa. And since they don't know, naturally the first years would also be clueless about this fact. They don't realize that they actually have a reason to be upset about you dating someone that goes to a different school. Everyone on the team holds a grudge against Shiratorizawa. There was not one point in time in which Aoba Johsai could beat Shiratorizawa. Oikawa, Iwaizumi, even Kunimi and Kindaichi had faced Ushijima in middle school. Since then, a hatred for Shiratorizawa has grown in them. Their hatred has spread to their current team. None of the boys on the Seijoh team like Shiratorizawa, nor any of the members of the opposing team.

You, however, thought this meant they didn't care, since they never brought up the fact. You thought they were perfectly alright with you getting intimate with a member of Shiratorizawa. So, when these boys comforted you about losing a friend over this situation, you thought it meant they were happy with you being in a relationship that made you happy. However, you learned you were wrong when a certain third year setter said a very specific line.

"Who cares that you're dating someone from another school, and that he happens to be in their volleyball club. I mean, we don't have any problems with it. And, it's not like you're dating one of the guys from Shiratorizawa. As long as you stay away from that team, there's nothing wrong with you being in a relationship with someone from outside of our school."

That one thing made you realize that they forgot. You couldn't tell them now. If you did remind them, they'd only have problems with it. You didn't want anything bad to happen, so you kept your mouth shut. You didn't want to risk pushing your friends away, so you felt it was best to keep the fact that Kawanishi is a part of Shiratorizawa a secret. After all, 'what the guys don't know won't hurt them', at least, that's what you believed. The solution to your problem was found. As long as you didn't slip up, everything would be alright.

But you were wrong. The moment you end up being around the Shiratorizawa team, you knew there's be trouble. No matter what, you could not bring yourself to let the truth get out about your connection to the best volleyball team in the prefecture. And so, this began you mentioning Kawanishi and your Shiratorizawa friends less. It got to the point that the guys on your own team noticed.

Oikawa, with hope in his chest, brought this up to you. "Y/n-chan. I've noticed you mention your boyfriend less lately. Did you two get into a fight? Or did you break up?"

Your eyes widened. You quickly shook your head. "None of that. Taichi and I are doing just fine. I just thought that you guys might be getting tired of me talking about him so much, so I thought it would be best to not bring him up anymore."

Oikawa kept a smile on his face, hiding the fact that he wanted to cry his eyes out at this news. "I see. Well, I appreciate you looking out for us, but you don't need to hold yourself back from talking about someone you love. You know we couldn't be upset with your relationship."

"Unless he's from Shiratorizawa."

The setter raised a brow questioningly. "Well, duh, but you didn't need to bring that up. Is something on your mind. Come on, open up to me. I'm your senpai, I'm here for me. There's nothing you should feel worried about telling me."

You sigh. "I just don't think you guys will like Taichi. I mean, you haven't actually met him outside of playing against him in volleyball. You are different from him, and I doubt you'd get along."

The captain hummed, thinking about what he could say to make you feel better. "Why don't you let us meet your boyfriend then? You never know how we'll feel about him until we meet him."

"I can already tell you won't like him, and will insist I break up with him."

Oikawa gasped. "Don't tell me- does he hurt you? Mistreat you in any way?!"

You stare into the older boy's eyes. "What the fuck?! NO! Taichi would never do any of that!"

"Then what's the problem? Why do you think I wouldn't like him?"

You look at the ground. "Your personalities are too different."

Oikawa scoffed. "Me and Iwa-chan are like polar opposites, and yet we're best friends. Don't use personality differences as an excuse. There is a serious reason why you don't want us to meet him. What is it?" Oikawa feared it's because you figured something out about him. 'Don't tell me... does she know how I feel about her?'

You hesitate. "Well, it's just a feeling I have. I guess I'm just worried about my friends and teammates getting along with my boyfriend. You all mean so much to me, I just don't want anything to ruin it."

Iwaizumi walked up, having heard a part of the conversation. "Don't worry. There's nothing that can ruin our friendship."

"Hypothetically speaking, how would you guys react if I were to ever get with someone from Shiratorizawa, even if I knew them outside of them going to that school?"

Oikawa frowned. "No way in hell would we let that happen."

The ace nodded along to the setter's words. "L/n, that's not a situation you should think about at all. You know how we feel about Shiratorizawa, and the guys that go there. Don't even fucking think about there being a chance you can even talk to anyone from there. Those guys are bad news, you don't need to be anywhere near them."

You took in a deep breath, closing your eyes. "I get it. Just - if you ever meet Taichi, don't lose your shit." You quickly get up, walking away from the two boys you left crouched on the floor.

'I can never let them find out that Taichi is a part of Shiratorizawa.' With your resolve, you continued with your manager duties. Everything went back to normal, and Oikawa and Iwaizumi let the conversation with you earlier become forgotten.