Innocent | Sugawara Koushi

16.

I was watching Oikawa carefully, not daring to ask about anything. I was waiting for him to start the conversation in case I was wrong.

He didn't seem to be aware of my tension, slowly taking a sip from his tea and leaning on his elbows elegantly, his chin resting on his palm. The bright smile he gave me almost made me cry.

"So what are you doing after work? As I remember correctly, you usually leave around this hour." He said, eyes focused on me.

Damn it, why does he have to be so nice right now? He usually mocked me or teased about every little thing he could. It would be much easier to turn him down if he did that now.

"I'm going to take someone from the airport." I said, trying to sound confident. But my insides were churning as I was waiting for the question I didn't want to hear.

Oikawa, spit it out please.

"Sana-chan? Where was she?" He seemed even more intrigued when I looked away from him, delicately biting the inside of my cheek.

"No, not Sana." I sighed. This is going nowhere. "Listen, Tooru. I need to change and leave work soon or I'll be late." I wanted to stand up, but he stopped me. His fingers wrapped around mine, tugging gently as if he wanted to make me sit again.

"Wait, I can go with you." His eyes moved over my face, stopping at my lips for a second longer than necessary. "I wanted to catch up." His cheeky grin said against it, implying more to his statement.

I know I looked confused right now. There was no way he didn't see it. "Are you sure you want to just catch up?"

His brown eyes blinked playfully at me before he stood up and surrounded the table we were sitting at. "Why, do you want more than that?"

I stopped him before he could get any closer, palm flat against his chest. "I'm serious." His hand reached to mine, but I took it away in an instant.

"I'm also serious. „His smile never faltered when he took a step closer. "I missed you all this time. And I was hoping we would greet each other in the same way we said goodbye."

"You mean you kissing me and running away?" I tilted my head curiously, to which he just chuckled. That's it. At least I have a clear view of his intentions now. I almost sighed at his attempts. "Tooru, I have a boyfriend."

The muscles of his face all fell, his eyes looking at me with confusion. "A... boyfriend?"

I felt bad for him. But that wasn't my fault that he kissed me and didn't mention it even once when he was gone. All this time I wasn't sure if it was a mistake, a joke or maybe he really intended to kiss me that day. "Yes, a boyfriend."

My confirmation didn't make him sad. He just smiled instead, that well-known playful glimmer appearing in his eyes anew. "Okay, we can act like this if you want. I can pretend to be jealous, you can play hard-to-get and we will make it a little competition between the two of us."

Really? Fucking really!?

"Oikawa." I deadpanned, looking at him with all the seriousness I had. "I'm not lying. I'm in a relationship now."

The scenery was awful. A restaurant full of people, who were peeking curiously at the man in front of me. Especially women. I wasn't surprised, that happened all the time since high school. But this time I did really mind those looks when he finally opened his mouth. "You were serious...?"

"Do you mind if I change? And then we can talk outside?" I asked, but his usual, cocky grin appeared on his face again.

He waved his hands, smiling delicately. "No need to get all serious now, right? We can still catch up, as friends. Right?" He tried to laugh it off, but I've known him for too long to believe him.