if iwaizumi and oikawa never became best friends...

“hey, who’s that?”

matsukawa turns to the person iwaizumi’s pointing to—a tall boy with dark bags under his eyes and a sunny smile on his lips.

“oh, oikawa tooru. our captain.”

“right, volleyball team.” iwaizumi stares at ‘oikawa’ again. “doesn’t he look tired?”

matsukawa shrugs, taking a bite of his burger as they continue walking.

“dunno, he’s not really that close to anyone. kind of an overworker, though. i think.”

iwaizumi doesn’t think much of oikawa again until he sees him passed out on the bathroom behind the gym.

oikawa wakes up, rubbing his eyes as he registers the familiar sight of the school infirmary.

and a guy with ridiculous spiky hair sitting beside him.

“who are you?” he croaks out, throat dry. the guy hands him a glass of water.

“iwaizumi,” the guy says, “iwaizumi hajime.”

iwaizumi hajime, huh? oikawa thinks as he shakes the guy’s proffered hand.

“your name sounds too serious,” oikawa chirps, ignoring the annoyed twitch of iwaizumi’s eyebrow.

“i’m going to call you iwachan.”

“right.” iwaizumi stands up with his hands on his pockets. “i still have class. see you around?”

“see you around, iwachan!”

—

they never did get the chance to become friends. graduation was near, and iwaizumi forgot all about the tired guy who called him “iwachan.”

iwaizumi, age 30, was thumbing through matsukawa’s high school pictures while hanamaki (matsukawa’s husband. husband!) prepared dinner for the two of them. he stops at a picture of the volleyball team, someone familiar standing in the middle with a bright grin.

“hey, wasn’t this oikawa tooru?” iwaizumi asks, distantly remembering tired brown eyes.

matsukawa nods, nostalgia in his eyes as he stares at his past self.

“yeah, saw him last month, actually. sports store manager.”

iwaizumi quirks an eyebrow, surprised.

“huh, didn’t you say he loved volleyball?”

“yep. crazy about it. talented enough to go pro.”

“what happened, then?”

matsukawa shakes his head, a flash of sadness passing through his eyes.

“overworked. minor knee injury got worse. that was the end for him.”

iwaizumi closes the photobook, deep in thought.

“told you he looked tired.”

“yeah, well, i think everyone noticed,” matsukawa sighs.

“it’s just that nobody cared enough to stop him.”