"have you ever been in love?"

nine

"iwa-chan, it's been a while!" i chirp as my childhood best friend approaches me, spiky hair and all. he grins when he spots me standing on the train station platform, hands still in his olive green jacket pockets.

"hey, oikawa," he says as he catches up to me, "nice to see you out of work clothes for once."

"yeah, weekends are a blessing," i chuckle, "how've you been?"

"good. miyagi misses you."

"and yokohama could use some iwa-chan of its own," i wink, "i miss miyagi too. must be nice to still be there."

"eh. business is a lot slower than it is here, but it's nice to know the people who stop by to support you," he shrugs, "we going to your place?"

"mhm, i made agedashi tofu for you."

"this is what i miss you for."

we end up having an extravagant lunch at my place — whenever we visit each other, we go all-out on the food, catching up on all of the meals that we've missed together.

"so, what's the special occasion?" he asks me, setting down his chopsticks, hands on his legs.

"hmm?" i ask, glancing up at him from my food.

"well, we don't always take a shinkansen ride just to hang out. so, spill. something's happened and you need me. that's what we're best friends for."

"you know me too well," i chuckle, "i met a guy."

"i thought you liked that guy on your train ride?"

"yeah. i met him," i explain slowly, "he asked me out two weeks back. we've been on two more dates since that day."

"that's great!" he says, and i grin, nodding. he frowns. "but it's not."

"eh?"

"you're worried."

"how do you even see that?" i ask, exasperated, "iwa-chan, really, at least give me a chance."

"no way. tell me."

"there's something up with him. not personality-wise, but something else. he's terrified of the future, he has these massive headaches, and his best friend talked about him leaving. and he insisted he wasn't moving," i say, biting my lip, "when i finally got him to say something, he asked me to let him wait before he told me."

"are you sure this guy's legit?"

"yeah. he's not... he's not out to hurt me. i think that may be part of it." i look up at him. "iwa-chan, have you ever been in love?"

"i guess not," he shrugs, "why?"

"what would you do if you were me?"

"it sounds like he'll tell you when he's ready. and if you believe that that's the case, maybe you should wait. until he's ready."

"yeah. i just hope it's soon."