❝Those Blueberry Eyes❞ ➵ {♔Oikage♔}

Chapter 10

     Kageyama stared at the cat. It stared back at him. He held out a finger nervously when the cat purred loudly and he immediately pulled it back.

     "That's not how you do it." Oikawa's laughter came from behind him as his senior crouched down beside him. He tossed a few pieces of dried fish in front of the cat who ate it happily. "Give me your hand."

     Tobio's eyes widened as he looked at Oikawa. Before he could say anything, his senpai grabbed his hand and slowly put it under the head of the tiny furry creature.

     "There, do it slowly." Oikawa let go of his kouhai's hand. "Go ahead, it won't bite."

     Kageyama stayed motionless for a while, then gave the cat a soft scratch under its chin. It didn't turn its face away and instead waved its tail side to side. He held his breath.

     "It's enjoying it. Don't get worried." Oikawa sat down, crossing his legs and leaned on the doorframe.

     Tobio continued scratching it and the cat purred happily, giving his hand a soft nudge whenever he occasionally stopped. His eyes sparkled at the interaction. He had always thought that animals didn't like him. Kageyama didn't even realize he was smiling until he heard the click of a camera.

     He snapped his head towards Oikawa who lowered the phone and smiled at him. "Finally we have a picture of you where you're not smiling like a serial killer. See?" He turned his phone around to show his kouhai.

     Kageyama stared at the picture for a while. He looked genuinely happy. Is that how people normally smiled? He always thought he smiled nicely when he was happy but to everyone else, it just looked scary. He felt warm inside as he blushed. He didn't want Tooru to see that so he turned back to the cat and lowered his head.

     "It's a nice photo", Tobio said in a soft voice, barely audible.

     The cat stretched suddenly and slowly turned around, veering its attention towards the smell of food coming from around the corner and trotted off.

     "Achoo!" Kageyama wiped his nose on the sleeve of his hoodie. It was red from both the cold and his fever. A cold breeze swept over them, blowing their hair backwards.

     "Alright, let's get inside." Oikawa stood up and tugged on his kouhai's hood.

...

     "Wrong, wrong, wrong, all of it is just... Wrong. Seriously, how did you even pass till now?" Oikawa scolded Kageyama, who sat there with his head lowered.

     Why am I getting scolded over homework here? He glared at his notebook, hoping he could magically erase the text off of them.

     "Hey, are you listening to me?" Oikawa tilted his head. "Are you even trying to make your grades better? Didn't you almost miss out on the summer training camp because you failed your exam?"

     "Oikawa-san, that was a long time ago, I got better in that subject." He tried to defend himself but his senpai wasn't buying it.

     "Ah, really?" Tooru narrowed his eyes. Kageyama wasn't looking up at him, knowing he would catch the blatant lie. Finally he sighed and put the books away. "You know volleyball isn't the only thing you should be paying attention to."

     "I know..." Kageyama drifted off. He was glad he wouldn't have to solve any more exercises. Just looking at them was torture.

     Tooru put the books at his desk and sat back on the bed. A small laugh escaped his mouth, making Tobio finally look up at him. "I was surprised to see you carrying books to the training camp."

     "I didn't use to. But Sugawara-san always does and he told me I should do it too." Kageyama waited for his senpai to tease him about it like he usually does but was surprised at Oikawa's reply.

     "You've got a wise upperclassman." He paused and turned his gaze to Tobio and smiled. "You've grown."

     Kageyama turned his head away, uncomfortable. He wasn't expecting to hear those words from this person. This person wasn't his senpai. The senpai he remembered was different. He choked back on the words flowing from his mind, making their way to his mouth.

     "Thank you", he muttered out, forcing himself to hold back on saying anything more.

     About half an hour passed before Oikawa called out to him again.

     "Tobio-chan."

     Kageyama looked out the glass doors, not wanting to make eye contact. "Yes?"

     "Sleep here tonight."

     It took Tobio a few moments to register the words. Once he did, he snapped his head back towards Oikawa.

     As if waiting on cue, his senior said, "It hurts your leg going down and coming up again, right? So sleep here."

     "Would that really be okay with you? Then you'd be sleeping here too?"

     "Well this is my bed so of course I'd be sleeping here. Unless..." Oikawa drifted off, sliding his eyes towards Kageyama.

     "Umm... Unless?"

     "Unless you think something is going to happen?" Tooru smirked.

     Kageyama's eyes widened at the suggestive tone and his face reddened. "N-no, I wasn't thinking anything like that."

     "Kyaa Tobio-chan! You're such a pervert, having such thoughts. What are you thinking of doing to my beautiful body?" Oikawa cupped his face with his palms and pretended to be embarrassed.

     Kageyama quickly turned his back to his senpai, getting redder. And he's back to himself again. "Thank you for letting me sleep here." He hoped Oikawa would drop the topic.

     Tooru laughed at his reaction, reaching out his hand and ruffled Kageyama's hair. "I'm joking, baka. You're welcome."

...

     The buzzing of his kouhai's phone caught Oikawa's attention. He opened it up to see a message from Hinata. He had sent it at noon but because of the terrible network, it had arrived just now.

     "Oi Kageyama, good news. Coach Ukai said he might be able to get you here tomorrow. You still can't play but he thinks it'll do you good if you just watch our games and I'll be in charge of making sure you don't pressure yourself. Text me back if you wanna come."

     He stared at the text for a long time, reading the words over and over again. Even in the cold atmosphere, a humid discomfort settled on him. He was sure he had stopped breathing for a while. He had told Tobio he would let him know if Hinata texted or called him so why? Why did he not feel like doing that? Why did he not want this to end so soon? His thumb hovered over the 'delete' button. Few moments later, he typed something and sent it.

     "No, I think it won't be good for my leg after all. I'll go when it's fully healed."

     He shut the phone and shoved it under the pillow.

     What he won't know, won't hurt him... Just a few days. I'll tell him. Oikawa promised himself.

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