The Waiting Game.

the waiting game.

summary: ever since you knew about your feelings for your brother’s best friend, you knew you’d wait for him. no matter how many times he might’ve rejected you, you’d wait for him.

pairing: iwaizumi hajime x fem!reader

genre: fluff/slight angst/humor; you’re waiting for a guy for thirteen years (don’t do that irl unless it’s iwaizumi), brother!oikawa, you’re stubborn as heck (and a simp)

length: 9.7k words 

a/n: repost!

AT FIVE YEARS OLD …

you’re a cute kid, you’ll put it as simply as that. your rosy cheeks and grin easily wins the hearts of all the adults in your life even after your adorable toddler years.

but, you’re three years younger than your brother and his friends. to en eight year old, you’re not that cute. in fact, the only purpose you have is to charm away adults, much like your brother, tooru, used to and still does, and torment him.

that doesn’t stop you from interrupting oikawa and his friend’s playdates and hangouts from then on until you'e well into high school.

so yeah, i guess with cute, you could be insufferable.

just like your brother, tooru.

“tooru~,” you sing, bouncing into the room with a handful of dolls, as a wide grin graces over your features. you’re head to toe in some royal getup, frilly and sparkly fabric galore.

“y/n,” is your eight year old brother’s immediate whine, looking away from the t.v. currently playing some rerun of a power rangers episode. “can’t you see i’m with iwa-chan right now?”

before iwaizumi, oikawa’s closest friend, could even scold him for the nickname, already sending daggers toward him, you pout. “but you said we’d play dolls today…”

there’s a little wobble in your tone as it lowers, and your frown is ever present. iwaizumi flits his eyes over to you briefly, quietly observing your reaction.

“maybe later,” oikawa waves you off, barely acknowledging your sadness and disappointment as he turns his attention back to the television.

the frown on your face only deepens when you realize your own brother is choosing a random boy he’d met recently over his own blood. his own sister!

okay, maybe you’re a little dramatic, too.

you’re about to let out some dramatic form of a wail when iwaizumi notices and widens his eyes in horror. iwaizumi doesn’t have siblings of his own so he can only guess what reaction you’ll have by the way your eyebrows furrow in anger. all he’s sure of is that he doesn’t wanna deal with a crying child, so he’s quick to nudge oikawa by budding shoulders with his.

“i think you should play with your sister for five minutes. at least get her in a better mood.”

oikawa’s face puckers in slight annoyance.

“why?”

… and the best brother award goes to … not him.

“girls can ruin your life,” iwaizumi mutters in a knowing tone. how does he know that so early? he’s only eight… and as far as you know, has no siblings.

regardless, you stand proudly with a beam (｡- ω -)

“but i want to watch this,” your brother complains, whiny tone toward the end of his statement filling his voice.

iwaizumi stares a this new friend with a deadpan expression, wondering why he’d rather face your inevitable wrath than just play with you…

so, he stands from the couch and walks over to you and holds his hands out, looking at you expectantly.

“iwa-chan, what’re you doing?” oikawa asks, noticing his presence gone from the couch when he looks over after a particularly enjoyable fight scene.

“i’m dealing with your sister,” he shoots back with a sneer before turning back to you with the same soft expression he held for you prior. “can i have a doll?”

you: (°ｏ°)

and just, like that, as you stare with your mouth agape - oikawa’s a little shocked, too, eyebrows furrowing is slight jealousy - iwaizumi becomes your friend, too.

so for the next ten minutes or so, iwaizumi sits beside you on the wooden floors (oikawa’s huffing from the sofa, wondering when his friend would return his attention to the t.v.) and pretends whatever dolls you have can fly or be more tough than you considered.

(you had you more buy one of you dolls a martial arts outfit just in case iwaizumi would ever agree to play with you again).

you found yourself being extra happy and giddy whenever iwaizumi came over to hang out with your brother (and inevitably you)

“can i play, too?” you’d appear in the backyard after seeing the two toss a volleyball to each other.

your brother loves you, no doubt. he’d easily beat up any one who picked on you.

but he needs his bro time, y'know?“

"it’s one on one right now-”

“-we wouldn’t want you getting hurt, y/n,” iwaizumi cuts him off, scowling at him to be nicer.

iwaizumi always looked out for you, and at five, you believed it was more than your own brother did.

and that instance was the first time he touched your heart and took a little piece with him wherever he went.

AT NINE YEARS OLD …

“hey! wait up!” you call after your brother on his way home from school.

you’re struggling to carry all your school books (you didn’t put them insider your bag because you were rushing to walk home with your brother and iwaizumi).

oikawa stops in his tracks and turns around to face you, sighing, “hurry up then, my slow sister~”

you manage to catch up to him, huffing and puffing by the time you reach him.

“how come you’re still here? dismissal was at 3,” iwaizumi questions from beside your brother, who was previously looking off in the distance of the convenience store, wondering if he had enough coins for a snack. he absentmindedly helps you hold your bookbag up as you pile all of your school books into it.

“yeah, we had practice,” oikawa narrows his eyes at you, adjusting his sling over bag strap on his shoulder, “what were you doing?”

“i can’t be in a club either?” you ask, furrowing your eyebrows at his judgmental gaze. ‘my friend asked me to come to her practice and watch her…“

the two boys beside you nodded their heads and you added, "plus, mom like when i walk home with you.”

that much was true.

it was also true that your friend invited you to her practice. however, you probably would’ve come up with any excuse to be able to walk home with your brother and his classmate.

because you have a crush on said classmate (๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ

not that you’d ever tell him (yet)

since you’d been bugging the two since you were five, tagging along with them and hanging out with them wasn’t new or suspicious.

“what are we watching tonight?” you plop down on the sofa, right in between your brother and iwaizumi and dig your hand into the bowl of popcorn on your brother’s lap.

“something rated pg-13 so you cant watch,” oikawa says, swatting your hand away from the bowl as he grins wickedly at you.

“that’s just rude,” you huff and stand from the couch, knowing your mother would scold you if she caught you watching a movie inappropriate for you age.

“maybe another day, y/n,” iwaizumi encourages, eyes never leaving the screen. he lifts his arm, though, offering you a small bag in his hand.

“want the rest of my gummy worms? i know they’re your favorite.”

Σ>―(〃°ω°〃)♡→

(this boy doesn’t even know what he’s doing to you heart).

“thank,” you smile softly, deadpan expression wiped off your face, shyly taking the bag from his hand.

oikawa watches the exchange with suspicion and it’s when he notices the flush of your cheeks and flustered expression as you scamper back to your room that it dawns on him.

AT TWELVE YEARS OLD …

“thanks for the help my stupid brother refused to give me!” you sing happily, skipping beside iwaizumi on your way to school. when you reach the point at which your paths separate - where you go to middle school and he goes to high school - you wave.

“no problem, y/n,” he waves back as you part ways, pulling on the straps of his backpack, now turning to your brother for a new conversation.

reaching school, the boys walked over to their lockers, engaging in small talk about the volleyball match they both watched the night before.

as animated as oikawa wanted to be during the conversation, all he could think of was the dumb smile on your face since you walked downstairs for breakfast.

iwaizumi had come over and helped you with a project the night before, one of those science ones where most students made volcanoes or rock candy.

oikawa never came to you to ask you about your crush when he first had an inkling about it. and you never went to him, admitting to it either.

but you believe it’s universal knowledge that you have a crush on his best friend.

you weren’t exactly trying to hide it from your brother. it was sort of obvious.

to be honest, you didn’t really care about what oikawa had to say about it. nonetheless, you were grateful he never did.

however, as obvious as you made it look, the only person who didn’t seem to know about your crush was iwaizumi.

and oikawa was willing to keep your crush to himself since obviously it wasn’t his crush to reveal.

but for some reason - maybe because you’re especially giddy expression made him a little too antsy to know what his classmate’s reaction to the news would be - today was the day that he just couldn’t keep it in anymore.

“you should stop being so nice to my sister,” his voice is cold as he’s fiddling with the books in his book bag.

iwaizumi pauses what he’s doing in his locker and turns to your brother.

“huh?”

“i’m just saying, i know you help her out a lot but some distance might be good.”

iwaizumi: why tho ಠ_ಠ

oikawa looks at his friend with the most deadpanned face and he realizes:

oh my god, he’s just oblivious.

“maybe ‘cause my sister is in love with you?”

iwaizumi chokes.

and then he laughs.

because what??? haha, that’s real funny, bud.

“i’m serious,” oikawa says, closing his locker door and crossing his arms. “i blame all the time you’ve spent around her but she’s developed a crush on you…i’m more surprised that you haven’t noticed…”

well ofc he didn’t … you’re still in middle school.

“you must be blind. she definitely sees me as a brother.”

“i’d be concerned if that’s the case because ‘sweet home alabama.’” (i know they’re in japan but allow the reference pls)

“she does not like me.”

“fine, fine. don’t believe me then,” oikawa raises his hands in surrender, “but pay closer attention and maybe you’ll see for yourself.”

from that moment forward, iwaizumi paid more attention to you and specifically your actions.

and if your bright smiles and rosy cheeks weren’t a sure tell of your crush whenever he came around, it was definitely the small gifts of treats and snacks you’d shyly give him whenever he’d help you with your homework.

“y/n?” one day, iwaizumi stammers under your gaze, looking down at his hands. “we should talk.”

you also had a habit of staring at him. it was something he didn’t notice at first since he was usually so engrossed with what he was doing. but now it felt like you had laser eyes pointing right at his forehead.

you raise an eyebrow, pushing your notebook aside and plopping your head in your arms, putting your full attention on him. “about what?”

“i know you have a crush on me…”

oh…

that’s when your heart skipped a beat.

so he found out.

the butterflies in your stomach overpowered the embarrassment and you replied:

“so what?”

deep down, you knew it was a stupid crush since you had no chance with him in the first place…

but there was still that sliver of hope in your heart you refused to let go of.

he chuckles after hearing your answer. “i’m too old for you, y/n.“

sure, on the inside, you’re screaming since he was flat out rejecting you but outwardly, you’re showing no regret and instead, utter shamelessness.

“three years older isn’t that much,” you lower your voice to a murmur.

“kinda is. i’m in high school and you’re still in middle school.”

iwaizumi’s usually really careful around you with his words since you were younger but now he was being blunt and straight to the point

he wanted it to be crystal clear to you

“so what?”

iwaizumi: (；一ω一||)

“y/n, did you even hear me?”

“yeah, but you should know me by now to know i’m not just going to stop liking you like that.”

the truth is, as embarrassed as you are at the current event, you’re still stubborn and optimistic.

iwaizumi thought he was doing the right thing by confronting you about your crush on him but…he might’ve made it worse from there on out.

“y/n stop staring at me.”

“but you’re cute.”

oikawa: (¬_¬)

“tooru, y/n, your friend is here!” one of your parents call from the front door when he’d show up later in the day or on a weekend.

it’s a race between you and your brother to greet iwaizumi at the bottom of the steps.

“he’s MY friend!”

“well, he’s MY future husband!”

yeah, your crush only got bigger after he confronted you…

you were able to crush on him freely since he already knew.

did you feel bad since he had to deal with you? maybe a little bit.

but the heart wants what it mf wants >:(

AT FOURTEEN YEARS OLD …

finally!

you made it to high school.

which is most fortunate for you because~

“iwa~ !!!”

you run in the halls to reach the boy you called out for. after those few years without him while you were in middle school, damn you missed him.

great, he thinks to himself, here we go.

“'iwa?’“ matsukawa snickers, repeating the nickname, “who would call you that besides oikawa?”

“the other oikawa,” iwaizumi mutters, closing his eyes.

“oikawa has a sister? 'didn’t know that,” hanamaki muses, rubbing his chin in thought and squinting his eyes as he sees you coming closer to the three guys.

“what’s her deal with you?”

before mattsun could get an answer, you appear in front of them with a bright grin. had you been any other girl, you might’ve been intimidated by the three towers standing before you but you were used to it by now.

“did you eat?” you don’t even greet iwaizumi, holding out a paper bag for him to take. you’d be more bold if you didn’t have an audience but feeling three pairs of eyes on you, you turned your head and puffed out your flushed cheeks.

“no,” iwaizumi starts, ready to politely decline your offering but you plop it into his hands.

“eat up then~ gotta head to class!” you start to walk away from him and when you feel your confidence return, you shoot him fingers guns and a wink, “we need those muscles to stay big and strong right?”

and then you’re gone.

leaving iwaizumi flustered as hell next to the other now grinning seniors.

“ah, so she’s your girlfriend,” makki muses, nudging iwaizumi’s shoulder.

“is not. she just likes me, that’s all…”

“and you don’t return her feelings?” mattsun asks, tilting his head to the side in wonder. “you haven’t rejected her either?”

“of course i rejected her. she’s three years younger than us, it’d be weird…she’s just stubborn.”

“respect,” makki nods his head in approval looking in the direction you’d gone in. “i respect a girl who doesn’t give up.”

“yeah? then you date her,” iwaizumi rolls his eyes before looking down at the paper bag in his hand.

“hey, it’s obvious she got eyes for you, man. that’d just be unfair,” makki responds with a low laugh.

“three years isn’t even that much,” mattsun says with a shrug.

“it is when you’ve known her since she was five.”

“so you still think she’s five or something?” makki asks, raising his eyebrows. “she’s in high school, dude.”

“whatever. i’ll never see her like that.”

“give it a few years, bud,” mattsun pats his back knowingly, “when y’all get married at twenty five, i better hear my name during your speech.”

iwaizumi grumbles something under his breath while makki claps his hands and laughs loudly, agreeing with his friend.

during the year, you found yourself sitting at the same lunch table as your brother and his fellow teammates. obviously you played the ‘i’m your sister’ card on him but everyone can see it was just an excuse to be around iwaizumi

at the beginning, plenty of girls were confused by your presence at the table (they didn’t know you were oikawa’s sister until they knew your last name. after then, they didn’t give you much attention since you weren’t a threat to them)

during lunch, you usually spent your time talking to your brother’s teammates about iwaizumi and they always got a kick from how shameless you were. over time, after you got more comfortable with the rest of the time, you felt more at ease flirting with iwaizumi

iwaizumi was well acquainted with your one sided flirting tactics since you were younger. of course, in the beginning, they were merely innocent compliments coming from your admiration for him

but by the time you reached high school, it escalated to comments about dating…

“still too old for you y/n,” iwaizumi grumbles, picking at his lunch. “always will be.”

you lean forward, crossing his personal space, and prop your elbow on the table and rest your head against the palm of your hand

“when are you gonna forget about this little age gap and realize you’re wasting your time blocking your feelings when we could potentially be great-”

“y/n,” his voice cuts off your playful one like steel when he slams his hands on the lunch table, causing the table to look up from their food and at the two of you. “when is it gonna get through your thick skull that it’s never going to happen? just quit it. you have no chance.”

there’s a pause.

your face pales when you realize you’d gone too far but you’re too hurt to apologize.

you lean back in your seat, putting your hands in your lap, and look down.

as much as you felt like doing at moment, you refused to become the heartbroken girl and run to the nearest bathroom stall. so, you sit quietly across from him, going back to eating your lunch

you don’t say anything else for the rest of lunchtime.

your brother opens and closes his mouth a few times, unsure whether to console you or yell at his best friend but it’s the jab in his side by makki that tells him he’s better off staying silent.

the bell rings when lunch ends and you stand up, quickly striding to throw your lunch away. you walk out of the lunchroom, not bothering to check if anyone is following you or not.

no one is.

that is until… “y/n!”

oh brother.

you turn around in the hall to face your brother.

“what.” you know he must be ecstatic to see his best friend physically trying to sever whatever feelings you have for him.

“i…i’m sorry about back there. i didn’t know he could actually say that,” oikawa’s rubbing the back of his neck, feeling slightly bad from the look on your face.

your face isn’t a sad one, it’s more of a monotone one.

but oikawa knows you better than anyone.

and you were indeed masking your true feelings.

“it’s whatever. i know you hate it but i still like him,” you huff before turning around and stomping off to your next class.

throughout the rest of the school day, your face stays rested in that deadpan expression, only sending pressed smiles that don’t reach you eyes to friends you see around in classes or the halls.

sometime after lunch, iwaizumi sees you in the hall at your locker on his way to class. you don’t see him since you’re looking in another direction.

while walking by, he opens his mouth to call out for you but closes it again and continues his way to class. though, he wonders if you would’ve said hi and wave like you always did if you saw him.

it isn’t until after school, right before he has volleyball practice that he approaches you outside.

he wasn’t surprised to see you walking toward the school gates. he was especially harsh to you today and he knew no matter how much you liked him, you wouldn’t really want to face him without cooling off first

he jogs over toward your retreating figure and when he reaches within ear shot of you, he calls out to you

“y/n.” there’s a calm voice behind you and you freeze in your tracks. you were certainly ready to walk home alone without bothering to wait for your brother or iwaizumi to finish practice

you turn around and ignore the pang of hurt rising in your chest at the sight of iwaizumi

you were used to his nonchalant rejections but this one hit harder than ever before

“what i said in the lunchroom … i’m sorry but i had to say it. i’ve been telling you for years but you still don’t give up.” you can tell he feels bad from the way he’s looking down and is only able to make eye contact with you for a few seconds at a time.

“and i still won’t.”

iwaizumi shoots his head up, ready to say something but you stop him with your hand

“no, you’re going to let me speak. you think i can just control my feelings all the time? so before you say ‘just stop liking me, it’ll hurt less the sooner you do,’ think about me for a second. you think my playful flirting being shot down so strongly by you doesn’t affect me? sure, i don’t act like it does but it feels like awful. it hurts. no matter what, i’m going to be hurt by you, hajime. but i don’t care. because i still have feelings for you. now, i think you have a practice you should be getting to, yeah?”

you don’t let him answer because you’re already walking away from him.

iwaizumi could only watch you leave before he heard someone yell out for him.

it took a few days for the awkward tension from both of your confrontations to subside. but when it did, it was like nothing had happened at all.

your eyes still sparkled whenever you saw him and your stomach still did flips, and he went back to flicking your forehead when you got too close to his face.

yeah things were definitely back to normal between the two of you

except for one thing: your aggression.

maybe his words were a wake up call to you about your actions, because from that day forward, you weren’t so aggressive about your crush.

you reminded him how you felt with little things and made sure he knew your feelings never changed.

but you went about it differently.

no longer did you stick glued to his side when you were around him and his teammates.

you spent time with his other teammates and carried on your own business like homework during their practices.

besides, you couldn’t keep being so clingy when he was about to leave you when he graduated.

“what about your precious brother?” oikawa asks with a pout, noticing the care package you were making for iwaizumi since you were aware he was leaving home for school.

“what about him?” you deadpan, wrapping a bow around the top. “i’ve lived under the same roof as you for my entire life. it’s about time you leave me alone now.”

“you’re so mean.” oikawa sticks his tongue out and crosses his arms. “iwa-chan is gonna like your gift, by the way.”

“of course he is,” you smile with a knowing glint in your eye. “i know him better than he thinks.”

AT FIFTEEN YEARS OLD …

oh, your second year of high school.

even though your brother and iwaizumi had left for college and they were the closest friends you had at school, you still stayed friends with the current members of the volleyball team.

totally not because oikawa and iwaizumi bullied the underclassmen to make sure you weren’t alone.

kindaichi and kunimi became your go-to’s since you were in the same grade.

since becoming a second year, you’d also passed the awkward puberty stage and did receive love confessions on multiple occasions.

ah the life of an oikawa, am i right?

you do be pulling these people though.

“y/n, will you go out with me?” the terrified classmate in your biology class stuck out his hand to give you a small chocolate box.

you instinctively look in the direction of iwaizumi’s locker which he no longer possessed since he graduated.

“the thought is really sweet but … my heart belongs to someone else, i’m sorry,” you frown, feeling the guilt rise in your stomach.

you truly wished you could’ve said yes to those who confessed but you knew if you did, it wouldn’t sit right in your heart.

you wondered if he knew of them and if he did that it was his fault you rejected so many people.

(you do end up accepting a few confessions after your friends urge to give them a chance but those relationships don’t go very far).

unbeknownst to you, your brother tells him absolutely everything

including when you come into his room to ask for advice on how to let people down lightly since it made you feel bad.

“she asks you for love advice? man, save that girl.”

iwaizumi and oikawa split their ways and went to separate universities but still kept in contact through facetime (even if it was against iwaizumi’s will).

cue oikawa calling him randomly at 2am to talk because he was bored.

“hey, you know my way with the ladies,” oikawa grins, looking at his best friend through the screen of his phone.

“what’s the advice for? she tryna confess?”

oh, how iwaizumi hoped you’d moved on after he left for school

“pfft more like the opposite. she asks about how to reject people.”

“oh?”

“oh yeah, she acts like it’s because she doesn’t want a relationship but i think we both know that’s not true,” oikawa lilts knowingly, wiggling his eyebrows.

though he always hated the idea of you liking his friend, by now it was just something he was used to.

in fact, he was probably waiting for it to happen because with your stubbornness, he believed it was bound to happen.

even if his friend didn’t believe it.

“i’m tired now. good night, shittykawa.”

“g’night iwa-chan~”

AT EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD …

“my baby sister is all grown up,” tooru clutches you in his arms, wailing and allowing tears to freely flow down his cheeks

“ugh, get off of me, people are staring!”

just like your brother and iwaizumi did, you and your brother also split and went to separate universities.

“but still~”

“you should be used to not having me around, you’re a senior in college now!”

“can’t i just be a clingy brother for once in my life?!”

“now you wanna use the clingy brother card? you’ve had the chance to use it all my life and NOW you wanna use it? in front of all these people?!”

people passing by on your floor’s hall giggled at your bickering but you managed to win the conversation when you ended up putting your brother in a chokehold

“i’m going to embarrass the shit out of you on your wedding day when you get married, just you watch! … that is if you could even find someone to marry you.”

“thanks, y/n. i no longer feel the need to miss you.” oikawa breaks away from your grin. he brushes himself off and ruffles your hair. “have a great freshman year, baby sis, and don’t be afraid to have fun!”

“yeah, yeah.”

“now if you’ll excuse me, i have somewhere to be! see you at thanksgiving!~” oikawa wiggles his fingers in a goodbye manner, walking down the college dorm hallway until he’s out of sight

what on earth does he have to do on a campus that’s not even his own?

your roommate, mei, is a sweetheart. she’s kind, funny, and from the get-go, you knew she was someone who was going to stick by you.

on move-in day, things were kind of awkward since you were meeting someone that you were going to live with for the rest of the year for the first time. but after the first few days, the both of you opened up and became comfortable.

“so…partners. got one?” she asks on the first night while you two were sitting in front of a party size bag of chips.

“nope,” you answer, popping the 'p’ for extra emphasis. “kinda unofficially taken though.”

“huh, interesting,” she muses, leaning over and grabbing a chip.

“you?”

nodding her head, she finishes swallowing her chip before smiling softly, “i’m doing long distance with my high school boyfriend.”

“oh, wow. good luck,” you answer, feeling somewhat bad for your roommate. when iwaizumi left for school, even if you hadn’t interacted as closely with him like you used to, there was still a hollow feeling in your chest that didn’t go away for a couple of months.

you missed him.

and you made sure he knew.

[6/10/18 11:00AM] you: happy birthday!! miss you a whole lot

[6/10/19 10:00AM] you: g’morning! i hope you have a wonderful birthday! miss youuu~

each time he’d answer with a straight, “thanks.” and you’d have to be the one to continue the conversation

you texted him only sometimes. only when you were especially missing him or found something that reminded you of him

rarely did he ever text you but he made sure to when it came around to your birthday. and you’d be lying if you said your heart didn’t swell when you read the simple birthday message.

maybe you weren’t technically in a long distance relationship, but your heart definitely acted like it.

“thanks! but you got me intrigued. who’s this person who-”

a knock on your door cuts her off followed by a gruff, “RA.”

“WE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG WE SWEAR!” mei cries in frustration causing you to laugh.

“they’re probably just going to introduce themselves. i’ll get it,” you stand up from the floor and walk to the door and swing it open with a grin.

“hi…” your greet starts off chipper until you register who’s at the door. “iwaizumi? what the hell are you doing here?”

“y-y/n?” he seems dumbfounded by the way his eye bulge out of his head and his jaw drops. “what are YOU doing here?”

and why are you calling me by my full name?

“i go here, what else?” you gesture to your room and in the process, notice mei pucker her lips, obviously sensing tension.

“you go here?”

no way.

no, you were sure your university of choice wasn’t the same as iwaizumi’s.

hell, you even asked oikawa just to make sure you didn’t go there.

it’s not that you didn’t want him around.

come on, you were in love with the guy.

it was more of the fact you didn’t want to seem like you were still chasing after him to this day as embarrassingly as you did as a kid.

but here he was standing right in front of you.

“i thought you were at-”

“i transferred.”

oh, so that’s what happened.

“oh…”

“yeah, tuition got too much so i applied here and as a resident assistant for housing.”

“i see,” you mumble, shifting your wight from one leg to the other. “you look good.”

he did.

and you were underestimating it.

although by senior year of high school he was already built enough, he seemed to have buffed out even more.

“you, too,” he answers, rubbing the back of his neck. realizing your roommate behind you, he gives a friendly wave, “hey, i’m iwaizumi hajime and i’ll be your RA for the year.”

“nice to meet you,” she smiles before turning to you, “is that the one?”

glancing between your roommate and iwaizumi.

of course she figured out by now.

you nod and jab a thumb at him, “yup, this is the guy who stole my heart.”

the reaction you expected from him: (T_T)

the reaction you receive: (⁄ ⁄•⁄–⁄•⁄ ⁄)

“is that all?” you ask turning back to him, “i’m trying to get to know my roommate right now. i’ll deal with you another time.”

“uhh, no! that’s it,” he stammers, stepping out of the way, “you have a nice night.”

“you, too.”

as soon as you shut the door, mei is on her feet jumping up and down. “this is some tv show shit going on! oh my gosh, what are the odds!”

you rub your temples, registering what just happened.

there was no doubt you still had feelings for iwaizumi but after so much time away from him, you’re so unsure of how to act.

you two were grown adults for crying out loud.

sure, you always believed you were endgame.

but in your mind it was in more of an “oh my gosh, we haven’t seen each other in ten plus years and we’re in the same grocery store. let’s catch up!”

not an “oh my gosh you’re going to my university and i’ll probably see you everyday since you live on my floor and you’re my RA.”

once again, the universe is going out of its way to point out, HE’S OLDER THAN YOU. YOU HAVE NO CHANCE. HAHA LOSER.

meanwhile in iwaizumi’s single room …

he tapped his fingers aggressively on his phone screen, waiting for his friend to pick up.

“aw, i just left! what, missing me already?”

“why is y/n here?”

oikawa freezes and whispers, “how’d you find out so quickly?”

“i’m her RA!!”

“for real? hah, that’s rich,” oikawa starts to laugh, wiping fake tears from his eyes. “i should’ve came to your room then. i would’ve noticed we were in the same hall as y/n.”

“you wouldn’t have told me.”

“you’re right. i wouldn’t have.”

“why didn’t you tell me she was coming here?

“why is it so important you know? hey, she asked about your school told and i told her you were still at your other uni-”

“and why would you say that?”

“because i’m sick of seeing my sister alone ok? as soon as you told me you were transferring to her school, i just seized the opportunity! you’ll look out for her, regardless of whatever feelings you have or don’t have for her. it makes me feel better to know she’s got somebody.”

“as evil as you are, i’m letting you have that one because it’s a sweet brotherly thing to do.”

“i know right?”

“and you just ruined it. don’t expect me to just randomly check on her though.”

“but you will,” oikawa sighs, a knowing smile on his face. “even if you don’t like her like she likes you, you’ll still care about her.”

“whatever. bye.”

“bye bye~”

the first semester’s rough since you were getting accustomed to this new way of life.

but honestly, you think you did a pretty good job.

you showed up to class on time, you ate decent meals (most of the time), you studied when you had to and took breaks when needed.

yeah, you were slaying the college game.

until you were locked out of your room in only a towel.

your roommate had an early class that morning so she wasn’t there to let you back in.

which meant: you had to go to the RA office to ask for the master key.

you walked down the hall in nothing but your towel and flip flops, glancing over at iwaizumi’s door when you passed it, hoping he was in there sleeping.

you reached the RA office and lightly knocked on the door before cracking it open.

“sorry for the appearance but i got lock- not you again,” you groan by the end of your statement when you faced a half-awake iwaizumi leaning over the desk.

of course out of everyone to be on duty…it has to be him.

the sound of your voice got him to open his eyes but upon seeing you in said towel, his fatigue became long gone.

had your legs always been that long and toned?

mentally smacking himself for such a thought, he stood up.

“l-let me get the master key.” he shuffles over to a small cabinet and went through the keys. “room 220 right?”

“mhm,” you hum, crossing your arms, trying to hide as much of your body as possible.

you felt v embarrassed rn.

“got it, follow me,” iwaizumi leaves the room and you trail after him like a lost puppy.

“can’t you just give me the key and i’ll return it later?”

“‘m afraid it doesn’t work like that,” even though he’s turned away from you, you still know he’s smiling.

“sleep late?” you ask when he lets out a loud yawn.

“yeah and i’m stuck in that office until 1.”

you nod but you realize he can’t see you so you mumble an, “oh.”

stopping in front of your room, he unlocks it and opens the door for you and gestures for you to go in. “there ya go.”

“thanks,” you lightly smile, walking into your room and hold the handle, ready to close it.

“how’s your semester going?” he blurts before you could start pushing the door closed.

you tilt your head to the side in confusion at his sudden question but laugh anyway, “maybe ask me when i’m not wearing nothing but a towel.”

iwaizumi’s cheeks heat at your comment, remembering you were still in a towel and he scratches the side of his head. “right! sorry. enjoy your day.”

“see you around!” you call when he’s walking down the hall, on his way back to the RA office.

the next time you’re alone with iwaizumi is on a saturday night when your roommate is adamant on playing a game.

“c’mon, everyone’s out partying tonight so shouldn’t we have our own fun?” mei clasps her hands together in a pleading manner and juts out her lower lip.

“what game?” you sigh, standing from your desk and turning to her

“one of the games we have here! we can borrow some from the RA office and return them when we’re done!

“ok then, let’s go.”

you walk behind your skipping roommate as she hums and giggles.

you were glad you weren’t stuck with some maniac.

she stops in front of iwaizumi’s door when she notices the sticker with his name on it on the door.

“have you guys talked?”

“not really,” you shrug.

“really? it’s been two months since we’ve moved in.”

“i mean, he saw me in a towel a while ago since i got locked out of the room but since then no.”

“spicy spicy~” she grins mischievously, continuing on her way to the office. “wanna bet the universe is plotting against you and he’s on duty tonight in the office?”

“i would but i know i’ll lose because it’s what the universe would do to me.”

“have you thought about getting over him?” she asks innocently after a moment of silence, turning to look at you.

“of course. it just never works out. my mind always comes back to iwaizumi and my heart, well, it knows what it wants.”

“that’s really sad, y/n.”

“maybe. but it’s what i’m used to. i’ve never met anyone who gives me the same feeling as he does.”

“and what feeling does he give you?”

by now, you’re standing in front of the RA office on the door. there’s a small little window so residents can see if someone is in there or not. and there iwaizumi was, scrolling on his phone, looking bored as hell.

“home.”

“hi!” mei greets him after she swings the door open

“gotta go shitty-” he cuts himself off, realizing you’d know just who he was talking to. 

“-are you talking to my dear brother?” your eyes light and you instinctively run over to iwaizumi and check the screen and yes, there he is.

“tooru!” you shout a greeting like you haven’t spoken in years when you in fact called him that morning. guess it’s seeing him somewhere else that gets you excited. 

“y/n, my baby sister! what are you doing there?”

“goodbye shittykawa,” iwaizumi rolls his eyes when he sees the shit eating grin on oikawa’s face. he ends the call abruptly before spinning in his chair to face you. “can i help you, other oikawa?”

you smile and point over to the shelf stocked with games, “we’d like to play a game please.”

waving you off, he mumbles, “knock yourself out.”

you bounce over to your roommate, unknown to the hard stare iwaizumi is sending you.

he’s too deep in his own thoughts to notice he’s staring right at you either.

“there’s only games for three people or more here,” you turn around with a pout

iwaizumi breaks away from his thoughts and shrugs his shoulders, “someone probably took the two person games already.”

you stick your tongue out at his nonchalant and apathetic answer

“how ‘bout you play with us?” mei asks, taking out a handful of games.

“me?” iwaizumi furrows his eyebrows, glancing over at you. 

you shrug as if saying, why not?

“i’m on duty right now, i can’t.”

“why not?” this time you voice it.

“if someone needs something-”

“-we’ll pause the game,” you say as if its obvious. “c’mon it’s saturday night and we’re bored! please~”

and just like your roommate did to you, you made your best pleading stance and stare at the love of your life iwaizumi. 

and being that you’ve used this face on him a million times since you were five, you were wary he’d not be affected.

but:

“ok, fine, just one game.”

you can’t deny the swell you feel in your heart when you notice the small smile he tries so hard to hide. 

(´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡

“plus 12, are you kidding me, y/n?” iwaizumi grumbles, starting to pick up a card from the deck one by one.

“hey, you’re the one who started it,” you shrug, grinning at his obvious frustration.

the three of you were currently in a round of UNO, your third game of the night.

(hah, “one game” my ass)

iwaizumi had only two cards left in his hand and thought he could gain an ever greater advantage if one of you received two more cards

but alas, the higher powers ruling UNO decided now was the time to push him off his high horse. 

mei looks through the cards in her hand for her next move before an alarm ringtone went off from her lap. 

“that’s for my laundry,” mei glances at her phone to shut off the alarm. “i’ll be back in like ten minutes to drop my clothes off back in the room.” she stands up before looking back at the two of you with an accusatory finger, “no cheating.”

she stepped out of the office and then it was just you and iwaizumi alone

letting out a yawn, (you’ve been yawning this whole time) you check your phone. 

“dude, it’s 2am. shouldn’t the RA office be closed now?” you ask, resting your head on your arms as they lay crossed against the office desk

“yeah but we’re in the middle of a game, aren’t we?” iwaizumi doesn’t look up from his hand of cards, sorting them by color and number

“ya coulda’ kicked us out earlier. we were just bored and needed.  something to do-”

“-ok but i wasn’t going to cut off the game if i’m winning.”

you open your eyes to send him a pointed expression, “winning, huh?”

“shut up.”

even tired and with eyes closed, you manage to send him a grin

there’s a comfortable silence between the two where your eyes are closed and iwaizumi’s attention flickers between you and his hands

you were the same oikawa he’s known for the past thirteen years. 

then how come you seemed like a such a different person?

normally you’d be throwing your flirty banter and compliments his way but all he’s heard from you is what you told your roommate that first day he saw you. 

you claimed he still had your heart. 

but why weren’t you acting like it?

had you…matured?

iwaizumi gulped and slightly widened his eyes. 

and why was he so intrigued now, wanting to know the reason…

“y/n?” he asks, feeling his throat grow dry and covers it with a cough

the only answer he receives are soft snores. 

oh. 

you fell asleep. 

i mean, it was 2am and you’d been playing games for the past few hours. you were surprised you lasted that long. 

“i’m back!” mei announces returning back the office before noticing you. glancing at iwaizumi, she pointed at you, “is she out?”

“i think so,” was his simple reply. 

“we should just call it a night. y/n, let’s go,” mei walked over and snapped her fingers in front of your face. 

you were out like a light. 

alexa play sicko mode

“y/n,” iwaizumi speaks this time, going as far as patting your shoulder to which you instinctively nuzzle your head further into your arms

letting out a sigh, iwaizumi stands from his seat, “you go on ahead, i got her.”

mei furrows her brows, wondering what he’d meant but it becomes crystal clear when she notices him crouch down to take her into his arms. 

mei was quick to start moving, afraid iwaizumi would see her wide grin and stifled giggles. 

he follows her in the hallway with you in his arms, bridal style, occasionally looking down at you. 

“you can just plop her on the bed. she’ll move around eventually,” mei breaks iwaizumi from his gaze toward you and he quickly looks up and clears his throat. 

“right.”

he walks over to your side of the room and gently places you on the bed. 

“is she enjoying herself here?” he asks, glancing over at your roommate quickly before looking back down at your sleeping state. 

“i think she is,” he smiles, “i mean, she has a pretty great roommate so i count for something.”

iwaizumi chuckles lowly, careful not to wake you. “funny,” he says before leaning over and pushing a strand of hair that’d fallen over your face away. 

leaning back, iwaizumi shoves his hands in his jean pockets and sways back and forth. “sorry for keeping you up. i should’ve kicked you out a while ago.”

“don’t sweat it. we had fun. sorry for interrupting your night. i’m sure y/n would never apologize but i’m sure she feels a little guilty.”

“i had fun, too. so no worries.”

“yeah?” mei grins when he’s outside the door. she was leaning against the door, ready to close it before curiosity got the best of her, “you must know how she feels about you, right?”

iwaizumi rubs a hand over his face, obviously not ready to have this conversation with your roommate at 2:30 in the morning. 

“yeah i do-”

“does she have a chance?”

iwaizumi’s throat runs dry. 

“i’m too old for you.”

“i’m three years older than you.”

“i’m in high school and you’re still in middle school.”

“when is it gonna get through your thick skull that it’s never going to happen? just quit it. you have no chance.”

iwaizumi’s silence is a cue mei takes to go on. 

“because from what i’ve heard from her is that she’s liked you forever. forgive me for overstepping my boundaries but a loyalty that strong for someone? that’s not something you should brush off.”

iwaizumi thinks back on the times he rejected you and takes into account how each and every time you seemed to bounce right back with no shame. 

“has she told you why she couldn’t take no as an answer when we were kids?”

mei smiles at his question. “she said your reasoning was dumb.”

his reasoning. 

all of his rejections were revolved around your ages. 

come to think of it, iwaizumi never said the words “i don’t like you,” to you once. 

it was always about age. 

“i think she thought that as long as you focused on your age, she’d still have a chance when it didn’t matter. like now, we’re all adults here and and an eighteen year old dating a twenty one year old is pretty common.”

“i uh, gotta get some sleep. i have an early class,” iwaizumi jabs his thumb in the direction of his room down the hall and mei sighs knowingly.

“goodnight,” and before she closes the door all the way, she calls out to him, “think about what i said!”

you awoke the next morning to the sound of your alarm (thank god you toggled the settings so it automatically repeated every day). 

gotta get ready for class, you think to yourself, grabbing your toothbrush and toothpaste (and key, you never forget your key now) before slipping into some shoes and walking out into the hall. 

on your way to the bathroom you see a familiar face walking in your direction. 

iwaizumi is walking your way (in nothing but a towel around his waist) with a toothbrush in his mouth. he doesn’t notice you at first and to be honest, you don’t notice him either. 

you’re still tired and can barely keep your eyes open. 

it isn’t until he’s an inch away from slamming into your shoulder that you move to the side out of reflex. 

“shoot, sorry,” iwaizumi says, mouthful of toothpaste. 

“no worries, iwa,” you wave him off with a sleepy smile and continue your way to the women’s bathroom. 

iwaizumi pauses for a moment, admiring the way you walked away with no second thought. 

you truly were in your own little world when you were half-awake. 

amidst this, a small smile tugs at his lips, turning into a grin as he walks back to his room. 

from that moment forward, iwaizumi finds himself seeing you more often than before. 

at first it isn’t even intentional:

you two walk into your dorm at the same time

more times when you walk past each other in the hall if one of you is on your way to class and the other is coming back from class

but your favorite was when you’d both be in the lounge room at the same time

“whatcha watching?” you’d ask, plopping beside him on the soft sofa and looking up at the t.v.

“reruns of criminal minds.”

and then you’d sit beside each other just watching whatever was playing on the t.v. neither of you spoke unless it was about a scene. 

but he still enjoyed your presence. 

OK WHAT’S GOING ON WITH ME, he thinks (almost everyday) to himself

never did he act this way around you nor want to be around you this much. 

“haji, let’s play foosball!” you break him out of his thoughts one day, already at the game table, gesturing for him to come over

you were quite impressed with yourself with how you were handling seeing iwaizumi so often. 

did your stomach flip every time you saw him? yes. 

did your heart pound against your chest every time he made eye contact? of course. 

and did your stomach let out out a swarm of butterflies every time you saw him smile or laugh? no doubt. 

but you managed to keep your feelings at bay. 

after all, it had been three years without seeing the man. 

of course, you some partners in that time. but your heart was set on one man. 

and sure maybe the media would call you a simp but you didn’t care. 

(it’s iwaizumi. i’m shamelessly simping)

“they’re having brownies at the dining hall tonight. wanna get some chow later?” you ask, without bothering to look up from the table, too engrossed with your game. 

“yeah, i’m starving. loser has to throw away all the trash when we’re done.”

“you’re on,” you smirk. 

ending result of the game: you won. 

iwaizumi is telling you it’s because he let you but that’s only to protect his ego. 

“yeah, sure you did. anyway, let’s go!” you tug his arm out of the building and walk in the direction of the dining hall. 

feeling the chilly breeze against you, you shove your hands into your sweater pockets and out of instinct, shuffle closer to iwaizumi, hoping his body heat would warm you up. 

surprising you, he doesn’t mind being shoulder to shoulder with you and doesn’t move away. 

the two of you walk into the dining halls and settle for a table near the back.

“i’ll watch the table, you go first,” he shoos you with his hand and takes a seat at the small booth for two. you grin and nod and he watches you skip away from him and in the direction of the food

you’re too cute, he thinks to himself as a smile threatens to grace his lips

five minutes pass you return with a plate of food. 

“really?” iwaizumi raises an eyebrow at your choice of a meal. it was 40% dinner and 60% sweets and desserts. 

“really.”

sighing, he knows if he tried to convince you to not take as many sweets, he wouldn’t win. he stands from his seat and walks in the direction of food (definitely less excitedly than you did). 

he returns with his food soon after and you’re sitting together, exchanging words and teases back and forth. it’s a cute sight to see and if any stranger were to look at you, it definitely looks like the two of you were together. 

“if you procrastinate again and you show up at my door with those puppy dog eyes, i’m only saying ‘i told you so,’“ iwaizumi chuckles and you throw a french fry out of mock anger. 

“you wouldn’t. my puppy dog eyes get you ~weak~ and you know it. just like when we were kids.”

the two of you are laughing until it dies down, registering the last part of your sentence. 

when you were kids. 

“it’s been a while, huh?”

you nod, “mhm, we’ve known each other a long time.”

iwaizumi stays silent, fiddling with his fingers underneath the table. 

should he bring up what he’s wanted to for the past few weeks?

before he can, you lean back and rest your head against the back of the booth seat. “man, i’m stuffed.”

iwaizumi raises an eyebrow and says, “well you ate like four brownies so i’m sure you are.”

you reply by sticking out your tongue and pushing your tray toward him. “throw it out please~”

iwaizumi rolls his eyes but slides out of the booth and takes both of your trays and walked in the direction of the disposal area. 

“i’ll meet you in the front, ok?”

he nods and the two of you part ways.  iwaizumi walks over to the disposal area and a look of defeat crosses over his features. 

you couldn’t tell her…

why not?

‘cause you’re a coward. 

iwaizumi shakes the thoughts out of his head and balls his now free hands into fists. 

it’s not the right time. 

but she’s only been waiting for thirteen years…

sighing, he shoves his hands into his pockets and masks his frustration with his normal resting face. 

he’s ready to greet you and start walking back to your dorm when he notices a taller figure beside you. 

stepping closer he feels his stomach drop. 

“no boyfriend?” the man smiles, taking a step closer to you, “i can change that, if you’d like.”

iwaizumi is already bunching up the sleeves of his sweatshirt up his forearms, ready to start something, before he notices your bored gaze at the man in front of you. 

“sorry, i’m taken.”

“i don’t see you with anybody?” the man’s grin never falters as he looks around you in search of someone.

by the time he says that, iwaizumi is somewhat close and within your eyesight. 

noticing the look of relief washing over your face, iwaizumi allows you to grab hold of his arm and swings him around to face the flirting man

“this is him and he’ll punch you square in the jaw if you try me.”

the man raises an unimpressed brow before slowly looking over at the taller man beside you. 

gruffly, iwaizumi responds, “i will.”

the man scoffs and walks away from you, leaving you and iwaizumi alone

you’re stunned. 

what you had said was based on pure instinct but you never expected iwaizumi to play along. the two of you quietly walk out of the dining hall and you stop once you’re both outside. 

“thanks,” you mumble, feeling your cheeks flush, “i didn’t mean to say that, it was just a reflex and he wouldn’t leave me alone and you were ther-”

iwaizumi cuts you off by cupping your cheeks in his hands. a beat passes with the just the two of you staring at each other before he (FINALLY) leans down and presses his lips to yours. 

your eyes are wide and your body frozen but with a few seconds, you were able to register what was happening and you melt into his arms, leaning forward. 

you kiss for a while, probably looking strange to people walking in and out of the dining hall but you don’t care. 

ending the kiss with a few peppered pecks on your lips and your cheeks, iwaizumi lets go of you and allows you to regain your own balance

“i’m sorry it took so long for me to do that,” he mumbles, looking down in embarrassment.

“hajime, the absolute love of my life,” you coo reaching your hand up to caress his cheek. “don’t apologize. after all, i won two games today.”

leaning against your hand, iwaizumi furrowed his brows before asking, “what was the second game?”

“the waiting game.”

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