Courting Victory | Oikawa | Iwaizumi | OC | Split-Routes | Haikyuu

CH1 - Pinky Promise

~3rd POV~

~~~January 1996

"Hajime!! Come quick and meet this adorable angel!" Little Hajime's mother expressed with delight as she crouched down to match the boy's height. "Look!" she grinned so wide as she showed him a newborn baby girl with big bright, sparkling eyes.

"b-blue eyes," he pointed at her. "Aren't they beautiful?!" she exclaimed, "Her name is Celeste, and she is the daughter of my lovely friend. Call her Aunty Asami and her husband, Uncle Earl." The couple hunched over the boy and introduced themselves.

"Hello, Hajime, a pleasure to meet you, young lad." Aunty Asami smiled. "We hope you could become best friends with our little Celeste." Uncle Earl added with a grin.

Hajime nodded his head earnestly as he looked on over to the baby, mesmerized by how angelic she seemed. 'Very pretty,' he thought. He reached out his tiny hands to grasp onto her even smaller ones that were curled into a fist. Little Celeste giggled at his warm touch, and Hajime blushed at how divine her soft laugh sounded. At that very moment, he promised himself to be her protector and always make her happy.

Oh, what he would do to hear her blissful laugh constantly.

~~~January 1999

"Iwa-chaaaannn!!!" the four-year-old Tooru huffed at his friend, exhausted from the uphill run they just did.

"Hurry up! She's waiting." Hajime didn't even bother to look at his friend and continued to walk towards her house.

"Who is she anyway? I didn't know Iwa-chan had a girlfriend." Tooru pouted. "She is not my girlfriend!" A red-faced Hajime stopped in his tracks. "Hmm, If you say so, but how come you never talked about her to me?" Tooru queried.

Why? Hajime wondered. 'Because you don't want anyone else close to her except you,' his selfish side expressed. If he could, he'd keep her to himself, but he also knew how much of a curious rabbit she was and that, eventually, she'd venture out into the world. He knew that no matter how much he wanted and tried to protect her, there would be moments when he wouldn't be of any help.

That alone made him helpless. So what better way to do but fill that shortcoming with something satiating.

And Tooru was his best candidate. He hated to admit it, but his friend, whom he tried to keep Celeste away from, was a perfect match to her energetic personality and curious whims.

"Iwa-chan?" Tooru shook his friend's shoulders, and Hajime furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, she is my best friend too." and shyly added, "and she is really important to me. So you better be nice to her, or we are no longer friends." He finished with a determined look.

Tooru blinked at his friend. She must be important to make him act like this, he thought. Tooru smiled brightly; he was excited to meet this girl, exhilarated even. "What's her name?" but before Hajime could answer, a 3 yr old girl ran out of the house they stood in front of.

"Ha-chi!!!" the little black-haired girl hugged Hajime's waist and giggled. "Hello Ce-chi." he hugged her back.

"My biwthday today!" she exclaimed happily. "I know. Happy Birthday!" Hajime grinned.

'her voice is really soft,' Tooru realized and wondered if her angelic voice mirrored her features, so he exclaimed, "Oh, Happy Birthday too!" to get her attention.

The girl turned her head towards his direction, and the moment their eyes met, he was lost in the beauty of it. It was as if the oxygen in him got knocked out, and he was pulled into a paradise of clear and bright blue skies.

Her eyes were the bluest of blues. Deep and captivating.

They had the same shade as that of a crystal electric blue orb. Around it was a magnificent dark ring lining the edges of her majestic irises, and Tooru was rendered speechless. As if it was not already sinful enough to own such a breathtakingly irresistible pair of eyes, her long, thick black lashes were naturally curled to perfection too. Did the Goddess Aphrodite give birth to her?