"Don't Forget Me, Okay?" [Iwaoi]

Chapter 9

A/N: Wow, 360 reads. Thank you so much. I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Iwaizumi slipped on his sneakers and was out the door of the locker room. The rest of the team was volleying the ball back and forth of the net. Kunimi, Watari, and Maki were on the far side of the court and Kindaichi and Matsun were on the other. He joined his part of the team.

"Ready, Iwaizumi-san? You're bound to be rusty," Maki commented.

"I may be rusty, but I can still kick your ass," Iwaizumi retorted. 

"Feisty already?"

"Only when you irritate me."

There was a moment of silent insults being passed between the boys. Then, Matsun smiled.

"Stop flirting, boys," He said. "We have a game to play."

"We're going to take them down, Matsukawa."

"I wasn't planning on having it any other way."

The two grinned at each other.

Each player got into positions. Maki served the ball and it came soaring over the net. Kindaichi received it easily, sending it back to the other side. Kunimi set the ball back over. In the split second that they had, Iwaizumi gave Matsun a look that said,"Give it to me." Kindaichi must have noticed,too, for he bumped the ball up instead of over. Matsun did his best to fill in as a setter and passed it to Iwaizumi. He jumped, and as his hand made contact with the ball, slammed it downward. Kunimi and Maki attempted to block the spike, but it broke through. Watari wasn't quick enough to reach the ball before it hit the ground.

Iwaizumi let out a small, triumphant laugh. "Rusty and still better than you, huh, Hanamaki?"

"Please. We were only going easy on you."

"Then by all means, please try your hardest."

"I'll make that mental note."

"Ready to lose?"

"As if."

The two rivaling teams continued to play their game. In the end, despite the trash talking, Maki's team lost at 20-25. Iwaizumi felt the adrenaline bubbling. He hadn't have that much fun or excitement in months. He strolled over to the losing players.

"That's quite a lot of points, boys. What have you been doing while I was gone?" He asked, teasingly.

"Most of the time? Worrying about you. But of course, we had to practice, too," Maki admitted.

Iwaizumi felt his heart catch in his throat. The negative effect that him leaving had caused the team was much larger than he had expected.

"But I'm fine. I was fine. Not all the time, but most of it was just as normal as always."

"That's good to hear. Oikawa told us practically the same thing. But we all knew that he was sugar-coating it. We had to see it for ourselves. Why do you think we jumped at the idea of meeting you at the mall?"

Iwaizumi's mouth twitched and his eyes began to burn. He looked down at the floor.

"Don't get like that, Iwaizumi. We just had a bunch of fun, didn't we? You proved to us that you're okay now," Watari said.

"Yeah. I hadn't realized how much I missed it."

It was then that Kunimi's eyes started to sparkle. He walked over to Maki, whispering something in his ear. Maki lit up then, also. Iwaizumi's eyebrows creased in suspicion at their behavior. Maki smiled and nodded and Kunimi ran off somewhere.

"What was that about?" Iwaizumi asked.

"Nothing. Just a surprise we have for you."

"Surprise? What is it?"

"If we told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?" Maki smiled mischievously. 

"I'll beat you if you don't tell me what it is," Iwaizumi threatened, only have joking.

"You'll see, you'll see. Somebody blindfold him, please?"

"What? No! I'll hurt you if you try anything-"

He twisted his head, startled, as his world became black. He struggled to be free from the hands clamped to his arms.

"I swear if you don't take this off right now..."

"It'll be over soon, Iwaizumi-san. Just relax for a minute," Someone said.

With a grumble of agitation and stress, he obliged. Only, the 'minute' he had to wait seemed like hours. He was growing impatient with having to wait, blind and vulnerable. Luckily he heard the patter of running footsteps coming towards the group. 

"Sorry," Kunimi said. "I had trouble with the door."

"It's okay. Just go stand by Iwaizumi," Maki replied.

"Are you ready?" Matsun asked.

"Depends."

"Don't be so bitter, Iwaizumi."

He grunted.

"Ready? Three, two, one-"

The blindfold was taken off. The world filled with light and color, causing Iwaizumi to squint and shield his eyes. Once his vision settled, he looked in front of him. Kunimi was standing in front of him, a uniform in his hands. The turquoise number four stood out so brightly, it was what drew Iwaizumi in. It was his uniform.

"We kept it," Kunimi said. "Well, of course we kept it, but we had it folded and tucked away so that it wouldn't become mildewy or anything like that. You know, just in case you wanted to come back."

Iwaizumi stood in his spot, silently and dumbfounded. He didn't even register the release of pressure on his arms, or the smiles on his friends faces. His mouth was slightly parted and his eyes scanned the outfit back and forth.

"We really miss you," Kindaichi said.

"We really need you," Watari said.

"So why-"

"don't you-"

"come back-"

"to the team?"

Iwaizumi burst into tears. He let go of all the emotions he had kept bottled up. Wretched sobs came from his mouth. He nodded furiously to them, unable to speak. He was surrounded in a matter of seconds. Arms tangled around him and the temperature rose from the abnormal mass of body heat. Iwaizumi knew he wasn't going to regret this decision. Because it's where his friends were. 

It was home. 

A/N:

Sorry Iwaizumi's a little OOC at the end! But it's supposed to be like this!