PICK UP, DAMN IT! || iwaoi

III: fever dream

pick up, damn it!
three.

"YOU okay, honey?" tooru's mom asked the brunette who woke up with deep eyebags and the worst frown he's ever worn. "i'm fine, mom." he tried his best to smile. she knew he wasn't, she always knew. if tooru was anything like his mom, it was that he doesn't like taking out whatever he's going through on others, and she understands her son more than anyone ever could. "..okay. breakfast is on the table, i'll be going ahead for work. you still have your house key?" tooru nods. "good, you've lost that countless times now. just call me if you need anything, okay?" she stands on her tip toes and kisses his forehead. "thanks mom, stay safe." she nods, opening the front door and smiling as she left. tooru knew if he wasn't lucky enough to have a good dad, he was damn blessed to have the most wonderful mom. the brunette sat down and ate his breakfast, his eyes lidded and his mind half asleep. he took a hot shower, brushed his teeth, wore his uniform, and combed his hair. he was half expecting to see hajime out on his front porch, waiting to hear his voice telling him he took his sweet time and they'd walk to the station together like usual. except he wasn't there. tooru took a deep breath.

he walked to the station, a dim shadow looming over him as the sun shone on the people he walked past. his head felt heavy, his body felt tired, and he felt his scalp dryer than usual. he shuddered at the thought and subconciously ran his fingers through his hair. he got to the station and caught a train just in time. tooru held onto the bar as he took out his phone.

[ one new text from maki ]

maki
sure, mattsun invited us over at the arcade anyway.

HE scrunched his nose, typing.

you
will iwaizumi be there?

maki
since when do you call him iwaizumi?

and yeah, he was the one who got the idea. heard he's bringing his new girlfriend.

TOORU turned off his phone. he wasn't trying to greet the people he wanted to avoid with raised arms. but then again if he doesn't go, he'll just be in his room again, wrapped like a burrito. what if he just turned into a house plant? that sounds quite pleasant right now. the doors opened, and he had arrived at seijoh without even noticing. he stumbled out and pushed through most of the classes, until he walked to his next one. takahiro was with him, and issei caught up. the two were talking about which minion would be a better companion in robbing a bank. tooru casually fought for bob, forgetting completely that his last class was biology. well, their last class. he was still hung up on the pyramid of giza. of course, the first thing he sees when he opened the classroom doors were hajime and natori all up in eachother's faces. okay no, that's a bit of a stretch. they're laughing and whatever, but that's equivalent to shamelessly making out since everybody knows they've got something going on. such a sight for sore eyes. he ignored their presence and just powered through the rest of the class. good thing he sat at the very front-he wouldn't be able to see the two openly flirting which was his own little victory. tooru was putting his textbook back in his bag as issei walked up to him. "we don't have practice today. you comin'?" he closed his bag, shaking his head. "no, my ankle hur-" "don't give us that bullshit, you were fine running after issei earlier after he said bob sucks." takahiro shrugs, the brunette froze. "..fine." he sighed, to which issei and takahiro shared a victorious high-five.

"hey. are you ignoring me?" hajime. tooru felt like ripping his uniform, flipping him off, and running him away with bare feet and out into the jungle like tarzan, but of course, he's a tad bit smarter than that. "what makes you think that, iwa?" his tone was solemn. he couldn't bare to look him in the eye-if he did, he might just shed a little, tiny, microscopic tear. just a bit though, he swears. "what, are you mad? i'll tell tori to bring kaori with us if you want, i guess." hajime shrugs. seriously? he think's im enraged because i need to have someone all over me at all times? of course not, but tooru's in the heat of the moment so his brain automatically makes shit up to fuel his anger. he decided not to run his mouth on hajime and instead turned to takahiro. "on second thought, i don't feel like going.." issei and takahiro turn to the brunette, confused looks on their faces. tooru slung his bag on his shoulder and walked out before any one of them could utter a word, or even move a muscle. his phone chimed, a text from his mom.

[ one new text from mom:33 ]

mom:33 :
hi hun, can you come home early once your classes are over? I forgot my keys inside.

HE was walking at a tad bit speedy pace, and was only stopped at a crosswalk when the traffic lights burned bright red. he let out the breath he'd been holding in the whole time.
"tooru!" the brunette closed his eyes tightly before deciding to confront that ever-so familiar voice he had been running away from all this time. he turned around, and there stood a worried hajime iwaizumi, and miraculously, no natori mizaki around. "can we please talk? please." tooru softened. hajime always knew how to get him, and the brunette always let the other take him away, spin him in circles and leave him hanging. he always let himself be played. not today though, satan. he stood firm and stiff, tightening the clutch he held onto his bag. "sure." before he even realized, him and hajime were seated at the station waiting area, on the bench hajime waved him goodbye at, natori on the phone. quite ironic. "so, can we hurry a bit? sorry iwa, i just have something to do at ho-"

"is this about natori?" seriously, what happened to "hi hello, how are you"? tooru sighed and shook his head. "no, i-" hajime's eyes felt so heavy-felt so full and whole, if that made sense. as if everything he wanted to say was clear in his eyes. tooru always loved that about him-how he never had to voice out his thoughts. his iwa's eyes were always so expressive and colorful, a bright, amber hue with hints of green and gray. so beautiful, hypnotizing. god forbid him from wanting to get lost in them. "i don't have any problems with natori." "then, me? do you have any problems with me?" tooru felt like running away, never to be seen again. how the hell was he supposed to respond to this? "yes, because i like you and you're too dumb and naive and stupid to realize", maybe. the brunette's gaze wasn't fixed, rather, it was the opposite. he didn't know where to look, to focus on so he doesn't come untangled. until he met hajime's eyes. his pupils remained still, he felt the air he breathed a bit more free, and he felt more relaxed. calmed, rather. "do you like me?" hajime blurted. tooru wanted to, at that given time and moment, die. his brain was going into a frenzy, what was he supposed to do? say? doosay? saydoo? what?-

"i... i did. i'm sorry, i know i shouldn't be. it's wrong and immoral because you have a girlfriend, but i liked you since we were kids and i kind of just realized it recently even though it's been developed way earlier, and i tried avoiding you to forget you and bury my feelings. i tried not to homewreck, really, i did try! but i just couldn't push it all the way down, and i-" hajime cupped his cheeks. the whole time he was explaining and running his mouth, the ace's lips were inches away from his. tooru once again, found himself lost in hajime iwaizumi's mesmerizing eyes. wondrous, like a fever dream. "sorry, can i?" tooru's gaze softened. hajime hovered his hand over tooru's eyes and closed them, before finally putting his lips on his. god, is this a dream? is this tooru's little escape from the reality that his iwa could never do something so horrendous? well, horrendously wonderful for him. but nope, hajime smacked the back of his head the minute his lips left him. he felt the pain, and was sure this wasn't a dream. "ow, iwa!" he winced, coaxing the back of his head as he opened his eyes to a new version of hajime iwaizumi he'd never seen before. flustered, a quivering smile-frown on his face-he couldn't tell. the corners of his mouth went up, then down, then up, changing every second. "idiot, i like you too."

(author's note: this was shorter than usual im sorrryyyyy T-T i'll try to make the next chapter longer to make up for it, thank you for reading!)