"Hey [Name], who are you texting?"

You look up from your phone for a moment to see Ami staring at you curiously. Tilting the phone slightly in her direction, she gasps.

"Is that who I think it is?" She gives you a teasing grin.

You sigh and tilt the phone back in your direction. "If you already know, I don't really know why you ask..." Oikawa had been sending photos to you via text for a while now and honestly, most of the shots he took were really nice. Your phone buzzes again and you check your new message and roll your eyes. ...Well, most of the time.

Ami leans over your shoulder and laughs. "Oh wow, what a photogenic guy!"

You stuff your phone in your pocket, ignoring that last text he sent. "I told him I don't want his selfies."

Ami links her arms with yours. "Anything else you guys do besides send each other photos?"

You shrug. "We just talk about whatever is on our mind."

Ami glances at you before looking forward again. "You know [Name], you've really changed since last year," she hums.

You give her a side glance. "Hm? How so?"

She grins. "You just seem to feel more comfortable in your own skin." Her grip on your arm tightens on you slightly. "I know it's been hard for you for the past couple of years but I'm so proud that you're finally letting yourself enjoy the things you like."

You look up thoughtfully, comparing your previous year to your present year. She was right, you were more comfortable being yourself. There were a lot of problems you couldn't solve and agonizingly mulled over on your own which resulted in you shying away from people. It felt nice to have that support from your friends even if they had no idea of what you were currently mulling over—you felt cared for and loved by your peers.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you!" Ami pulls you out of your thoughts. "I'm hanging out with Hanamaki-kun after school!"

Your eyes widened and you turned to face her fully, gripping her shoulders excitedly. "That's great! I'm glad you pulled yourself together~" You teased her as she giggles and rubs her arm in an embarrassed manner.

"Yeah...well..." She trails off and you lean forward to try and catch her next words. "So...I couldn't find the courage to ask him to hang out alone so..." She looks at you with a pleading look and you brace yourself for the following words. "...I said it was a double date!" She presses her hands together to apologize as you rub the space between your brows.

"Ami—" You were about to scold her when she cut you off.

"Please don't be mad!" She continues to give you a pleading look. "Actually, Oikawa was the one who gave me the idea when I was waiting for Hanamaki-kun after practice."

You quirk your brow. You told him not to meddle and what does he do? The complete opposite. You were about to stuff your hand in your pocket to get your phone and give him a piece of your mind but Ami's hand stops you.

"I'm so sorry [Name]! Just this once!" She pouts. "Plus I really need someone to push me when I freeze up."

You sigh. You weren't keen on the idea of meddling but if you just needed to spur on a conversation when an awkward silence would start you could handle it. "So, who am I partnered up with?"

Your eye twitches at her beaming expression that seemed to answer it all. You held in a frustrated sigh. "Why didn't you say anything about it?"

She glances away from you, rubbing the nape of her neck nervously. "He, uh, told me not to tell you?"

You let out the frustrated sigh you've been holding in. You had a hard time understanding his thought process sometimes but you pulled yourself together to make a decision. First order of business is to be a support for Ami and the second order of business is to see what's going on with Oikawa. "Yeah, yeah, I'll come," you finally say as she cheers at your response. "So when is it?"

She gives you a sheepish smile. "Actually...it's today. Uh, um, after their practice."

You stalk off with you hearing Ami's cries of apologies in the distance. Damn that Oikawa making Ami an offer she couldn't refuse. You'll just have to give him a piece of your mind when you see him.

~~

It doesn't take you very long to find him, not while he was walking towards you with such a wide smile plastered on his face. "Rudolph! You didn't respond to my last text!"

Your eyes narrow at his seemingly innocent expression. Not like he just didn't give someone an offer they couldn't refuse in exchange for you to give up your very valuable free time. It was a Monday today and he knew he had the day off from practice today in which you in fact didn't. You stomped over to him, temper rising at the fact that he did notice your change in demeanor but paid no mind to it—like he was expecting it.

"Ah, well, that's okay~" He hums nonchalantly, "we'll hang out after practice anyway."

"Oikawa I told you—" You were once again cut off.

"Now, now Rudolph! We must be supportive friends in this momentous occasion!" He gives you the usual wink which right now you found quite annoying. "Plus we have to drill in Makki's head that there is more to life than arm wrestles and volleyball!" He slings his arm around your shoulders and rose up his other arm to exaggerate his last point.

You shrug off his arm roughly and jab your finger in his chest. "Yeah, with my very treasured art time on the line!" Your brows scrunch up in frustration. "You could've told me sooner...!" With that, you walk off with considerably less energy than when you started.

You didn't notice how his own brows scrunch in frustration as you walked off, upset that you didn't want to hear out his reasons for doing so.

You were finally just getting used to your new normal but once again, Oikawa had thrown another curve ball in your direction. You let out a resigned sigh. You were not impressed with how he dealt with it but Ami was so excited so you wouldn't ruin today for her. Just like any day, you could handle a bratty Oikawa.

~~

Club practice coming to a close, you hear loud shuffles from beside you, signaling your very anxious friend. "Where are we meeting those two?" Your sharp voice cut through her loud shuffles as you turn to Ami when she was beginning to clean up.

"Oh! Uhm, they'll come pick us up here!" She gives you a nervous smile and your eyes soften at her. You had to keep your temper in check.

"[Surname]-chan isn't sticking around today?" Tadashi walks over to you two.

You give him a half smile. "Got plans today."

Ami grins. "Because you're the best~"

Tadashi looks back and forth at your conversation and begins to put two and two together. "O-oh, like a date with the guys from the volleyball team?" He steps back lightly with his hands in the air once he sees the two of you snap your eyes towards him. "Iwaizumi was complaining about how Oikawa wouldn't stop talking about it..." He trails off as he sees your quirked brow. "...Well, I summarized it in nicer terms."

Ami's eyes widened, still stuck on the point where Tadashi called her time with Hanamaki a date as she waves her hands in front of her furiously. "N-no! I mean, can I call it that—but maybe not—" She rambles on, her words becoming more incoherent the more she talked so you responded for her.

"We were just planning to hang out today." You were amused at your friend's flustered state, it was something you didn't see too often.

Tadashi nods at your clarification. "I see, I see." His eyes dart around for a moment before he turns his attention back to you. "Before I leave, I wanted to ask if you could give me some tips on my painting sometime?"

You give him a surprised look but nod eagerly. "It's no problem at all Tadashi-kun!" Your eyes lit up at the opportunity to share ideas with another person. "We can talk about when to do that during class tomorrow or something."

He rubs the nape of his neck and smiles. "Hah, yeah! Sounds good, see you guys tomorrow then! Have fun today!" He packs up his things and makes his way to the door. "Oh, hey Hanamaki, hey Oikawa! See you."

Both you and Ami's ears perk up at Tadashi's last words and glance at the direction he left from. There they were, standing by the doors. Hanamaki had a bored look on his face and Oikawa had his usual broad smile.

...No, there was something off about his smile. You weren't able to put much thought into it as Oikawa's airy voice cut through your thoughts.

"Hey~ Ready to go?"

Ami nods and pulls you with her, ready to start her date.

~~

You were put off by how Oikawa was acting during the supposed 'double date'. He hadn't looked at you even once but he seemed talk like usual to everyone. Everyone but you. You could tell Hanamaki and Ami also noticed but tried to ignore it so it wouldn't get anymore awkward. You were more than a little pissed at his sour attitude that was ruining everyone's time. The moment you spotted Ami's favorite café, you decided to take matters into your own hands. "Hey Ami, I think there's that new dessert there that you wanted to try! Want to go try it out with Hanamaki-san?" You link your arm on Oikawa's making him flinch slightly. You ignore it for now. "I wanted to go show Oikawa something over there." You point at the opposite direction. "Is that okay with you guys?"

Hanamaki nods silently and Ami looks at you gratefully. "Perfect! We'll part here then!" You start pulling Oikawa off in the other direction. "We'll see you guys tomorrow!" When they start walking off to the direction of the café, you look up at Oikawa who still doesn't look at you. You pull away from his arm and create some distance between you two. "And you, what happened?"

Unsurprisingly, he doesn't respond and you sigh tiredly. Putting your hands on your hips, you survey the surroundings for a good place to sit and talk. You spot a lone bench a little further down by the park and begin walking towards that destination. "Fine, lets walk a little, and then we'll both chat." Surprisingly, he follows you silently as you guide him through the crowds of people.

When you guys finally made it to the bench, you plop down and Oikawa follows soon after. You're more than a little irked that he sat further away than you guys were both used to. "Oikawa, what's up?"

You guys sit in silence for a while as you wait patiently for his response. After a couple more minutes, he responds, "can't say."

You bit back your lip before you could start yelling at him from frustration. "What can you tell me then?"

He sighs and looks out at the park. "...Do you like hanging out with me?"

You quirk your brow at his question. "Of course I do." You shift yourself a little closer to him. "But right now you're making it kinda difficult."

He leans back and closes his eyes as he lets out a small laugh. "Yeah, sorry about that." He pauses as he thinks about his next words. "Just so you know, I like hanging out with you too."

You roll your eyes. "Obviously." You glance at him from the corner of your eye and face forward again. "Would you be able to explain why you didn't want to tell me about the plans for today?"

You were going to give up when you were met with more silence but he spoke up moments later. "You wouldn't want to come."

You nodded in agreement. "True." Stretching your arms and leaning back on the bench you mutter, "then why would you do that?"

Oikawa responds with his own mumbles, "I felt like you needed a break, you seemed to be stressed over something."

You turn to him, surprised how he could easily see through you. However, you noted that wasn't the only reason he had...

You stand up from your seat and began dusting off your clothes. You knew you wouldn't get anything else out of Oikawa today but you'll figure out what's bothering him another day. "Now, lets end this off with—"

You know you've been cut off a lot today. But what you didn't know was that you'd also be cut off by a stray ball travelling in your direction. That said ball had a surprisingly heavy impact and made you lose your balance, toppling over a surprised Oikawa.

"Huh—w-what—Rudolph—" His eyes snap open at the sudden impact on him, his hands reflexively gripping onto your shoulders as you just hold the back of your head with a groan. You've managed to slump your body over his, your forehead rested on his shoulder.

You could hear small shuffling footsteps stop by you two, squeak out an apology and run back to their playtime.

You use one of your hands to push away from Oikawa, still rubbing the back of your head with an annoyed look. "Exactly what did I do to deserve all this..." You realize you're now a lot closer to Oikawa than you're both used to, your hand resting intimately on his chest. You snapped your head to face him to apologize but your words got caught in your throat. His eyes looked a little glazed but you weren't sure if it was because of what he was upset about all day or from the impact just now. Once you pulled yourself together you quickly pull away from him. "Whoops, sorry about that."

You were irritated by how much you felt your face heat up at being so close to Oikawa. You ignored the strange clenching in your stomach.

Finally willing yourself to glance at him after another embarrassing moment from you, you notice that Oikawa seemed a little flushed himself. He stands up after a moment and spares you one last glance before he walks off, expecting you to follow him. "Hah~" He sighs out at the space in front of him. "Lets go!"

You follow after him and soon fall into step with him. As you guys were waiting for the train, he speaks again. "Next time."

You give him a confused glance. "What?"

He rubs the nape of his neck. "Sorry about how I was today. I swear when we hang out again, you'll have the best time!"

You chuckle at his words. When you guys hang out next time huh? You give him a little nudge with your shoulder. "I'll hold you up to it then because, what was it again?" You look up in thought. "Oh yeah! Someone made it known that Oikawa Tōru keeps his promises, right?" You shoot him a teasing smile.

He grins at your comment. "Hm~ You know me too well~"

___

so this was way different from what I had planned for this chapter but when I was writing it out I was like 'oh what the heck, why not' and just went with the flow. Let me know what you guys think (: