There are a number of ways this could go.<\/p>\n
One – and likely the most possible – Koushi might humiliate himself. He might utterly humiliate himself and not really know what to say after Oikawa’s possible, “Sorry, do I know you?” before straightening himself up and say, “Yeah, I was the setter on the Karasuno team,” and have Oikawa laugh it off and turn away and not give him a second glance. Koushi would probably be so dazed (though he’ll do his best not to be) that it’ll be after Oikawa’s already walked off that Koushi had initially meant to flirt with him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Two – the result of Koushi’s dreams, really – Oikawa flirts back. Maybe he’ll find Koushi attractive, maybe he won’t recognize him and won’t care and have fun. Koushi remembers the way he’d been with his fangirls back in high school. Maybe he’ll treat him like that, and maybe it’ll be enough for Koushi to gather up his courage and ask him out properly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
(The result of this, also, depends on whether Oikawa is a) interested in him, b) interested\u00a0enough<\/em>\u00a0in him, c) actually single like the rumors Koushi has heard, and d) still a decisive person.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Three – Koushi will chicken out completely and not flirt with him at all, instead walk past and maybe smile a little if he\u00a0remembers<\/em>\u00a0to (and possibly get Oikawa’s attention – then from there that could go in a number of directions, but likely just end up in) then leaving and cursing himself under his breath for being a wimp, whining to Daichi and Asahi in their Skype call later, Asahi telling him, “Next time, Suga!” and Daichi scolding, “Stop being so much like Asahi!”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Asahi will probably whine then and fold his arms and turn away. Daichi will have to kiss Asahi down the cheek and neck before Asahi finally relents, and Koushi will just be happy and slightly jealous on his end that his friends are in a happy relationship while he himself feels ridiculous pining over an old high school rival.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But he’s in the cafe now, grabbing a lunch before class, when he spots Oikawa in line with two people he’s seen him with before. They’re talking to each other so Oikawa is just gazing at the menu, hands in his pockets, scarf draped lazily and stylishly over one shoulder. Koushi grips the handle of his messenger bag and runs through all the possibilities in his mind again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n (denial, reciprocation, reciprocation and then denial, unfamiliarity??, coward, get a grip, okay, you can do this<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Koushi takes a deep breath. There isn’t anyone behind them in line and Koushi’s standing near the entrance of the cafe, remembering that his feet definitely do work, and his brain isn’t frozen, it’s just getting the guts to tell his brain to tell his feet to move. When they do, Koushi breathes out a low sigh of relief – this is going well, he’s going to try this, he’s –<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Oof!”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Maybe he blinks when he shouldn’t have – but the next second and Koushi’s fallen to his knees on the floor, having hit against someone he hadn’t seen walking into him. “Sorry,” he mutters, but the person he’d run into is already picking themselves up and speeding off without turning back to him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Koushi glares and mutters as he begins to get up; his knee feels bruised and stray pens and pencils have fallen out of his bag and onto the floor. He begins to gather them up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Here you are.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Koushi almost jumps at the sound of the voice. He peeks up to see Oikawa smiling down at him, one of Koushi’s mechanical pencils in his hand, stretched out to him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Oh,” Oikawa says, with some surprise in his voice. “Suga-chan.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Koushi blinks. He doesn’t know if he’s staring at Oikawa’s face or his pencil in Oikawa’s hand – it feels like each of his eyes is focused on one more the other. “Oikawa,” he says, because his brain runs through the idea of exclaiming,\u00a0you recognize me?<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0you know my name?<\/em>\u00a0but neither would be impressionable at all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Fancy seeing you here.” Oikawa’s voice is pleasant, and Koushi takes the pencil. Oikawa keeps his hand outstretched, though, like he’s offering it to Koushi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Koushi blinks some more and takes it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Er,” he says, gathering himself up. Oikawa’s fingers are unsurprisingly callous from all those years (and counting) of playing volleyball; but they’re nice to hold and Koushi wishes he had a longer time to examine their angles without it being too weird. He can’t just feel Oikawa’s hands forever.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He’s the one who breaks them apart as soon as he gets up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “You too,” says Koushi. “Though I’ve seen you around campus before, so…”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Oh?” Oikawa’s eyebrows go up. His friends are still talking in the background, but his eyes are focused on Koushi. It’s a little unnerving. Koushi slides his pencils back into his bag.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Why didn’t you say hi?” Oikawa asks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Koushi clears his throat. He racks his brain of possible responses – he’d thought all this out before – but he hadn’t really figured the situation would end up like this. “I’m saying hi now,” is the smoothest thing he can come up with, and he definitely blushes as soon as the words come out from his mouth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Oikawa laughs, eyes closed, mouth wide and delightful. “True, true,” he says, careening back down from his laughter and meeting Koushi’s eyes again. Koushi’s heart stutters and he pretends it hasn’t. “Well, are you staying here for long, or do you have somewhere you need to be?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Koushi’s class starts in an hour; it takes him fifteen minutes to walk from there to here. As soon as he’d walked into the cafe, he’d planned on spending less than ten minutes to attempt to flirt with Oikawa and another thirty minutes reeling down from the high and a possible excited-panic attack from the interaction. (That had been if he talked to Oikawa at all, but Koushi had had enough faith in himself to consider the possibilities of his initiating the interaction a 70%.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n (This was a 1% situation, and Koushi doesn’t know how to classify it in his brain.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Why are you asking?” is the safe response, and Koushi slots his fingers through the opening of his jacket to tell his heart to calm down.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “If you wouldn’t mind, I could keep you company,” says Oikawa, and Koushi’s grip gets tighter. “These two are practically on a date, anyway,” he adds, gesturing to his friends.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n One of them turns to them and says, “We are\u00a0not<\/em>.” Then his gaze flickers to Koushi and looks him up and down.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Never mind,” he says, and then brings an arm around the other friend. “Hey Mattsun, did I tell you that I love the cologne you’re wearing today…?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n (“I’m not wearing any cologne, weirdo.”)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Oikawa rolls his eyes. Koushi finds himself chuckling, and tugs on his coat so much that his hood hits the back of his neck.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “I don’t mind your company at all,” he says. “Lunch with you sounds great.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Oikawa beams. Koushi’s pretty sure that’s color in his cheeks too, but maybe he’s so high on the adrenaline that it’s fogging his vision.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Excellent,” says Oikawa.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are a number of ways this could go.<\/p>\n One\u2014Tooru makes a fool of himself. Because the heavens have parted and blessed him with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and because he gets sort of dizzy whenever he sees Sugawara Koushi around campus, and he does things like walk into poles or trip over his own feet. And if Tooru screws up, well, Mattsun and Makki are there to laugh at him and make it a thousand times worse. Realistically, this is the most likely possibility.<\/p>\n The optimal outcome\u2014number two\u2014is that Suga flirts back. Tooru\u2019s not counting on it, though. Suga probably knows who Tooru is, and probably doesn\u2019t trust him, just like every other opponent. And when Tooru has been nothing but an absolute delight!<\/p>\n (The result of outcome two depends on a few things\u2014mostly whether or not Suga is single and receptive to flirting, neither of which Tooru is willing to put money on.)<\/p>\n There\u2019s a third one, though, that Tooru is trying not to contemplate. The third outcome is that Tooru chickens out, helps Suga up and then turns around like he doesn\u2019t recognise him at all, and keeps going with his life like nothing has changed. He imagines Makki teasing him about it, and Mattsun laughing along\u2014or worse, one (or both) of them telling\u00a0Iwa-chan<\/em>.<\/p>\n And he tries not to think about how Mattsun and Makki are always so\u00a0happy<\/em>\u00a0and couple-y with each other, and how the unfortunate side-effect of Tooru always hanging around with them is that he absolutely\u00a0yearns<\/em>\u00a0to be happy and couple-y with someone, preferably Sugawara Koushi.<\/p>\n Tooru takes a deep breath. It\u2019s now or never\u2014even though it\u2019s not the best situation, with Suga knocked down by some random rushing past, and Tooru doesn\u2019t like to think of himself as prince charming rescuing someone in distress, but he\u2019ll take it. So, he leans down and picks up one of Suga\u2019s pencils, holding his hand out.<\/p>\n \u201cHere you are.\u201d<\/p>\n Suga jumps, and Tooru tames his lips from a grin into what he hopes is a smooth smile. \u201cOh,\u201d he says, trying his best to sound surprised, \u201cSuga-chan!\u201d<\/p>\n (idiot! why would you let him know you gave him a nickname why would you DO that<\/em>)<\/p>\n \u201cOikawa,\u201d Suga says.<\/p>\n Tooru waits for a response, but Suga says nothing. He seems sort of confused, so Tooru smiles encouragingly. \u201cFancy seeing you here.\u201d<\/p>\n At last, Suga takes the proffered pencil, blinking a bit, but Tooru keeps his hand there, hoping Suga will understand and let Tooru help him to his feet. He does, mumbling an\u00a0er…<\/em>, and Tooru tries not to focus on the way his entire body feels like it\u2019s on fire when their hands make contact.<\/p>\n \u201cYou too,\u201d Suga says, as he parts their hands, \u201cthough I\u2019ve seen you around campus before, so\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s a hopeful flare in Tooru\u2019s chest. \u201cOh?\u201d he asks. \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you say hi?\u201d<\/p>\n Suga clears his throat, and\u00a0wow<\/em>, that\u2019s\u00a0adorable<\/em>\u2014Tooru is so gone. He vaguely registers Makki saying his name, and ignores it as background noise.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m saying hi now,\u201d Suga says.<\/p>\n (outcome two! outcome two! possible flirting detected! all systems engaged!<\/em>)<\/p>\n Tooru laughs. \u201cTrue, true,\u201d he says, and then, meeting Suga\u2019s eyes to make it\u00a0count<\/em>, adds, \u201cWell, are you staying here for long, or do you have somewhere you need to be?\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not like Tooru has anywhere to be\u2014well, he has a tutorial in an hour, but Suga definitely doesn\u2019t need to know that. This is such a rare opportunity that Tooru\u2019s willing to throw aside his entire schedule, put his life on hold for it. Outcome two was so unlikely, and now even the slightest chance that it could happen is enough that Tooru\u2019s heart beats twice as fast as usual.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy are you asking?\u201d Suga asks, and Tooru tries not to let his face fall too obviously.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you wouldn\u2019t mind, I could keep you company,\u201d Tooru says hopefully. He notices that Suga is clenching his fingers around the opening of his jacket\u2014maybe that means he\u2019s nervous? \u201cThese two are practically on a date, anyway,\u201d Tooru adds, just in case it makes Suga feel more comfortable, less like a fourth wheel.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are\u00a0not<\/em>,\u201d Makki says, turning around.<\/p>\n Tooru gives him a withering look, but Makki takes one look at Suga and changes his tack entirely. \u201cNever mind. Hey, Mattsun, did I tell you that I love the cologne you\u2019re wearing today\u2026 ?\u201d<\/p>\n As those two distract themselves being disgusting\u2014\u201cI\u2019m not wearing any cologne, weirdo,\u201d\u2014Tooru turns his attention back to Suga, rolling his eyes. And Suga\u00a0laughs<\/em>, and it\u2019s the most beautiful, gently sound that Tooru\u2019s ever heard.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t mind your company at all,\u201d Suga says. \u201cLunch with you sounds great.\u201d<\/p>\n Tooru is pretty sure he\u2019s grinning wide enough to be a lighthouse for passing ships. \u201cExcellent,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Suga looks away\u2014and if Tooru\u2019s being optimistic, he\u2019d say he\u2019s blushing. \u201cLet\u2019s order, then.\u201d<\/p>\n So, they order, and since Makki and Mattsun\u00a0conveniently<\/em>\u00a0decide to get take-away, Tooru and Suga pick a table for two near a window.<\/p>\n (resist the impulse to hold his hand, to kick him under the table, to act like you\u2019re already dating when it\u2019s just the atmosphere, the way you are around him, the way you\u2019re almost certain he is around you<\/em>)<\/p>\n \u201cSo, er,\u201d Suga says, \u201cI guess you\u2019ve seen me around campus too\u2026 ?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d Tooru says. \u201cWe\u2019ve passed on the way to class a few times, and I\u2019m pretty sure I\u2019ve seen you near my dorm.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWouldn\u2019t that be a coincidence,\u201d Suga muses, \u201cif we\u2019d been living in the same college all this time and hadn\u2019t run into each other until now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s almost like\u00a0fate<\/em>,\u201d Tooru jokes\u2014and luckily, Suga doesn\u2019t take him seriously, laughing just a bit.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s true,\u201d Suga says, sounding a bit more relaxed than before. \u201cI\u2019m sure that if we didn\u2019t meet now, our paths would have crossed one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s a comfortable silence, and a couple of times their eyes meet, and they look away. It\u2019s like a small ritual, seeing who\u2019ll hold the gaze for the longest.<\/p>\n (look him in the eye, let him know the way he makes you feel, connect<\/em>)<\/p>\n Suga wins.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know,\u201d he says, but he doesn\u2019t continue the thought.<\/p>\n \u201cDo I?\u201d Tooru prompts.<\/p>\n Laughing, Suga finally breaks the eye contact. \u201cI wondered if flirting a little would be a risk,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I think it was a calculated risk.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy calculations were off,\u201d Tooru jokes, \u201cbut I took a similar risk\u2014and I think it\u2019s safe to say it paid off. We should do this more often.\u201d<\/p>\n There are three possible outcomes\u2014and it depends on Suga\u2019s response. One, he flat-out says no. Tooru doesn\u2019t think that\u2019s very likely. Two, he gives a noncommittal answer, a delicately-worded maybe, that leaves Tooru hanging on for closure. That\u2019s slightly more likely.<\/p>\n What Tooru\u2019s hoping for, though, is the third outcome. Suga says yes, they swap numbers, compare their timetables, plan a date\u2014<\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d Suga says. \u201cI\u2019d like that.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s it, that\u2019s all Tooru needs\u2014because taking risks can be like a perverse second nature sometimes, but when you\u2019re overthinking it, it can help when there\u2019s someone else who\u2019s just as bad at maths.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “The risk I took was calculated – but man, am I bad at math.”<\/a><\/p>\n
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