LETTERS TO YOU • AN iWAOi FANFiC

𝟎𝟏

oikawa's pov- age 26, august 4th- 2020

    i softly opened the box and carefully placed yet another letter in it. the eggshell white envelope i hadn't sealed, just like the others, was wedged between hundreds of other envelopes, all labeled with a different date.

i kept the first letter i had ever written taped carefully to the lid. i treated every letter like fine china as if the box was a display case and all of my words and feelings had to be handled delicately....and let's be honest...they do...

the letters were organized by date, the latest letters to the front of the box. most were varying shades of white, but the dates i deemed most important or sparked the most affection in my heart were in soft pink envelopes.

in the beginning, i had sealed each envelope after writing the letter inside, but after rereading them so many times, i had realized it was a waste of time to do so and inevitably stopped.

the thing they all had in common though, was the name 'iwa' scrawled across the backs of the envelopes. over the years my handwriting had changed, and you could tell that i had taken a calligraphy class in third year, the characters no longer looking so stiff and the letters appearing more elegant.

it was when i was closing the box and sliding it back behind my shoe rack that the music i was listening to in my earbuds was interrupted by my best friend's ringtone. an excited, yet exasperated sigh left my lips as i answered the phone.

"yes, iwa-chan.~" i added a lilt to my nickname for him as i stood up.

"why is your door locked, shittykawa? i lost my key too." his deep voice startled me a bit, as i seemed to forget how handsome it was every time we spent more than a couple days apart. my heart seemed to drop a bit at the realization that if i hadn't locked it and he hadn't lost his key, then he could've walked in on me reminiscing over the letters.

"u-uh, gimme a sec!" i tried to keep the shakiness out of my voice, but it didn't seem to work very well.

"right, okay sure. not sure what you're doing in there to cause you to be so nervous, but if it's drugs, i won't forgive you. and i swear to god, trashykawa, if it's another naked guy, i'm kicking him out." after this statement, iwa hung up and i stumbled a bit as i rushed to the door.

i mentally prepared myself for his image, determined not to get caught up in his looks. unlocking the door and tugging it open, the view of hajime iwaizumi came into my vision. i blew out a breath and he walked in leisurely as if it was a second home.

which, relatively speaking, wasn't exactly a lie. iwa had lived here for years until him and asaji (a/n: not to be confused with our lord and savior, asahi christ) moved in together a few months ago. he had been my housemate all through college (we had attended the same one) and had continued living together when we graduated.

he still came and stayed occasionally, the most common reason being him and asaji had fought and he needed a place to stay. speaking of, he looked kinda off, like he was feeling guilty or something. his mouth opened a bit, then closed, as if he couldn't bring himself to say his next sentence.

"iwa-chan? what's wrong?"

his eyes shifted slightly before he spoke up.

"don't get mad, shittykawa. i was gonna tell you."

my eyes narrowed. "iwa-chan...what happened?" i was suspicious of how he was acting.

"i asked ishi to marry me..." he glanced up at me nervously, trying to discern my thoughts on the matter.

i tried processing everything, my heart thudding painfully as i realized what had happened. i pretended to pout, all the while a lump was building in my throat.

"whaaaaaa?! iwa-chan? are you joking? you should've told me you were planning to propose to asaji-sama!" my voice cracked slightly, and i cleared my throat, turning slightly so he couldn't see the obvious pain on my face.

it wasn't as easy as normal to mask my emotions, but years of practice had trained my face to easily fake happy.

he chuckled slightly at my exaggerated offended tone, rolling his eyes a bit. "i know, i know. i was gonna talk to you about it today, but then she and i went on a date yesterday, and she just...she looked really good i guess..." he mumbled the last bit, but i could still hear him clearly as he blushed, looking to the side.

my expression fell a bit. but...seeing how happy he was...made me feel a bit better...

"i'm so happy for you! you guys seem to love each other a lot." a small, real, smile overtook my features as i imagined him at his wedding, kissing the one he loves and wants to cherish. it just...wasn't gonna be me, as much as i had hoped so for all these years.
   
"sooooo, want some dinner? i was gonna order some tofu if you want some." i tilted my head to the side slightly as i asked him.

"nope, can't. i just stopped by to tell you i got engaged and....to ask you something, but after that, i have to go, ishi is home, so i need to cook. i don't want her to burn everything in the house."

"oh?" i questioned, now curious, "ask me something?"

"yeah, i was wondering if maybe...you could help ishi plan the wedding...?"

my breath hitched. i could tell my eyes were probably wide open in shock.
"p-plan the wedding...?"

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