Normally, Iwaizumi put a certain amount of pride into being present and focused at practices. He felt as though if he weren't focused, neither was his team; they needed their captain to lead by example. However, thanks to Oikawa and his invitation, Iwaizumi felt his mind slipping all throughout the next day; neither class nor practice was immune to the drifting of his mind, and he could tell people were noticing.
"Iwaizumi," Hanamakki's voice said, "What's going on with you? That's the second serve you've missed."
"Sorry," Iwaizumi said quickly. "I didn't sleep well last night; I'll get the next one."
Hanamakki nodded, but still looked concerned. Iwaizumi gritted his teeth and adjusted himself on the court, determined to hit the next ball that came towards him.
God I'm stupid, he thought. I can't believe I'm letting myself be dragged into an ALIEN HUNT, of all unholy fucking things. Like I don't have BETTER things to do than go searching through the woods for E.T. with the president of the science fiction club.
Just then, a ball came flying in his direction, and Iwaizumi swung at it. He hit it with such ferocity that it flew upwards, almost to the ceiling, and came soaring down into the other side of the net; the players were so distracted by its height, that they didn't even make a move to save it. It bounced harmlessly on the wooden floor of the gym, and rolled away.
From his left, Iwaizumi heard Hanamakki laughing. "Not quite what I was hoping for, Iwaizumi, but not bad."
--
When practice let out, Iwaizumi took a few extra minutes to linger in the changing room before leaving; there was no doubt in his mind that Oikawa was waiting outside for him, concealed in the shadows somewhere, so that the other players wouldn't notice him.
Eventually, he decided that there was no other choice than to suck it up, and get on with it; he zippered up the Aobo Johsai team windbreaker, slung his bag over his shoulders, and headed out the door. He hadn't gone three steps before a voice called:
"Iwa-chan!"
He stopped dead. Oikawa emerged from the shadows, waving enthusiastically at him, but suddenly, the alien hunt had been pushed down his list of worries.
Iwa-chan?!
"You were taking forever," Oikawa said. "I thought you had tried to stand me up!"
"... What did you call me?" Iwaizumi said slowly, eyeing Oikawa suspiciously.
"Iwa-chan," he said casually. Iwaizumi gaped at him. "I figured that since Iwaizumi is kind of a mouthful, I'd shorten it up. Besides, now that I know that you're not secretly and alien who's trying to kill me, we can actually be friends."
"You keep saying that I'm not trying to kill you, but I don't think you're as sure about that as you think you are," Iwaizumi said flatly.
"You're such a tease, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa said, waving his hand dismissively. "If you were going to kill me, you would have done it a long time ago."
Well, he's not WRONG, Iwaizumi thought. "... Alright, fine, whatever. 'Iwa-chan' is fine, I guess. Where are we going?"
"Back to the place where we first met," Oikawa said, digging around in his bookbag. "Someone told me the other day that they had seen some strange lights from over there, and even more noises. I said that I'd investigate, but then YOU got in the way."
Iwaizumi bit back a sharp retort. "So anyway, I bet there's still some evidence left," he continued, pulling out a black box about the size of a cellphone from his bag. "And it's never a bad thing to have a second set of eyes."
