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pearlsephoni · 9 months

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Coffee for Two

Can also be read on AO3!

Rating: T

Fandom: Haikyuu!!

Pairing: Iwaoi (Iwaizumi/Oikawa); mentioned Sakuatsu (Sakusa/Atsumu)

Characters: Tooru Oikawa, Hajime Iwaizumi, Atsumu Miya

Word Count: 5.1k

Summary: Tooru Oikawa's work as a barista is simply a means to an end until he joins the V.League. The last thing he needs is a secret admirer leaving presents around the café and making him look forward to this cursed job.

A/N: Written for @/Katefacee on AO3 as part of the HQ Valentine’s Day Exchange over on Twitter! This was originally published on AO3 on February 14th.

“Kawa-kuuuuun— Woah, what’s wrong with you?”

Tooru lifted his head from the counter and blinked at his coworker. “Look who decided to come in.”

“Huh?” Atsumu breezed into the backroom of the cafe, the small space letting the metallic slide of his coat on a hook and the rustle of him tying his apron reach Tooru at the cash register. “I told ya I’d be late today. Got it approved and everything.”

“It seems awfully convenient that you couldn’t make it to your only opening shift this month.”

“Awww, don’t be bitter, Tooru-chan.” Atsumu joined him at the register with a pat on his shoulder. It was deeply frustrating, how good he still looked despite coming straight-in from the cold. The wind had artfully tousled his bleached hair and left his cheeks looking nice and rosy. It only made Tooru more self-conscious of his own hair, left unstyled and frizzy in his rush to get to the cafe on time.

“You left me to open alone. Let me be bitter.”

“Fine, fine.” In his own version of an apology, Atsumu began restocking the fridges and re-brewing coffee for the canisters, letting Tooru continue to lay on the cashier counter. “How was opening?”

“A group of moms going on a biking trip came in. They all wanted frappes and breakfast sandwiches.”

“Jesus.” Tooru smiled into the granite at the sound of the blenders getting rinsed out as well. “Well, here comes yer favorite. If that’ll help.”

It was a taunt. Tooru knew it was a taunt. But that didn’t stop from him shooting upright and dragging his fingers through his messy waves just as the door opened with a jingle. “Good morning, Iwa-chan!”

He looked dead on his feet, poor thing. Tooru would’ve felt bad about taking comfort in that, if Iwaizumi hadn’t still looked devastatingly gorgeous. Even with dark circles under his heavy-lidded eyes, he took Tooru’s breath away, all tan skin and strong muscles and messy hair that he wanted to run his fingers through and get even messier. His frown at Tooru’s nickname made him even hotter, all serious and brooding. “I told you not to call me that.”

“But it’s cute! Just like you!”

Those hazel eyes widened a bit at that, and his ears turned a sweet pink. “Can I at least have some caffeine before you start annoying me?”

“So mean, Iwa-chan,” Tooru said with a pout, already finishing up with putting in his order. “Want anything to eat? We got more egg white sandwiches in yesterday.”

Iwaizumi blinked. “Maybe later.”

“Oooh, are you sticking around today? Midterms already?” He only got a groan and an adjusted backpack in response. “Can I help with anything?”

“Want to write my kinesiology lab report?”

“I meant with coffee.”

Iwaizumi snorted, the corner of his lips ticking up just enough to make Tooru feel proud, before wordlessly handing over some cash. “You can keep the change,” he said, “for a tip.”

If he kept this up, Tooru was going to reach across the counter and pull him into a kiss.

Atsumu stayed suspiciously quiet the whole time, only piping up with a chipper, “Here ya go!” as he handed Iwaizumi his drink: a black coffee with a single pump of vanilla. He finally broke his silence once Iwaizumi got settled into his regular spot at the booth in the far corner. “I still don’t know why he, as a senior, is getting a coffee everyday when it’s such a simple drink.”

“Maybe he just wants to see me!” He grinned at Atsumu, waiting for him to roll his eyes and give him snark for his “misplaced confidence.”

But instead, the blonde just hummed noncommittally, still watching Iwaizumi as he blearily unpacked his laptop and notebooks. “...Tsumu-chan?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, maybe.”

Cool, so he definitely wasn’t listening. Tooru would forgive him, if only because he was now restocking the breakfast sandwiches. If Tooru had to handle a bagel within the next hour, he would be making sure the knife was sinking into anything but a bagel.

Shifts with Atsumu usually passed like this: bickering punctuated with silent acts of help. Tooru opened by himself, and Atsumu cleaned up the carnage when he clocked in. Atsumu prepared the sandwiches, and Tooru refreshed the food displays and wiped down the unoccupied tables.

And all the while, Iwaizumi worked in his corner, frowning at his laptop and shuffling through the growing piles of notes that migrated from his backpack. Sometimes he had his headphones on, especially when it was a busier day. Other times, like when there weren’t many other customers lingering, he was happy with nodding his head to the cafe music. Tooru wasn’t sure if it was just a happy coincidence that Iwaizumi usually nodded along with his playlists, but he’d take any wins he could.

“D’you need me to move?”

Tooru looked up from a stubborn stain on a table to see Iwaizumi looking at him. “Hm? Oh, no, that’s fine! Tsumu-chan can wipe down your table after you leave.”

Iwaizumi’s brow creased, but he just nodded and watched him silently for a moment, before muttering, “Do you ‘-chan’ for everyone, or just people you like annoying?”

Another glance up showed Tooru a tiny curve to Iwaizumi’s lips, which brought a gleeful smile to his own. “Nah, just people I like annoying. That means I actually like you!”

Did Iwaizumi always blush and frown like that whenever someone flirted with him? How did he get through the day like that? Surely a ton of people flirted with him, right? “Lucky me,” Iwaizumi mumbled, turning stolidly back to his laptop…only to look back up at Tooru. “Wait, how many hours have you been working today?”

“Awww, Iwa-chan, you’re worried about me?” Tooru snickered at the deepening frown he’d earned himself. “Don’t worry, I’ll be done in an hour.”

For some reason, instead of the relief he was expecting, Iwaizumi looked a little nervous. “Oh. Alright.” He slid his headphones on before Tooru could ask any questions. Weird.

Weirder still was the thoughtful expression on Atsumu’s face when Tooru returned behind the counter. “Tsumu-chan? Whatcha looking at?”

When Atsumu met his eyes, Tooru was startled to recognize a strange mix of glee, confusion, apprehension, and suspicious, all melting together in his warm eyes. “I’ll tell ya, but you have to promise you won’t freak out.”

“That is the best way to guarantee that I will freak out.”

“Then I’m not tellin’ ya.”

“Wha— why? Tell me!”

“No!”

“Bye.”

“Tsu— wait, Iwa—!” Too late. In the time that Tooru had finished cleaning up and gotten back behind the counter, Iwaizumi had packed up his things, thrown away his trash, and slipped out of the cafe. “You made me miss saying goodbye!” he whined at Atsumu. “Now you have to tell me!”

“Oh please, like ya won’t get another chance tomorrow,” Atsumu scoffed. He rolled his eyes, but he also finally let Tooru get his hands on the mysterious item.

It was…an envelope. An envelope with his name neatly written across it, correct characters and all. “...What?”

“Yep.” Atsumu popped the “p” with flair.

“Where did you find this?”

“By the granola bar basket. Open it, I wanna see what’s inside!”

Tooru glowered at Atsumu as his fingers moved to obey him, carefully tearing open the top of the envelope. Inside were some carefully pressed autumn leaves and a short note, written in the same neat writing on a small, blue piece of notebook paper.

For the best barista in town. I saw you collecting some leaves the other day. I don’t know what you need them for, but here are more for your collection.

“Wait.” Tooru flipped the paper over and saw only empty lines. “Wait. There’s no name!”

“Holy shit,” Atsumu breathed, his confusion giving way to delight, “you’ve got yerself a secret admirer! And he gave ya…leaves?”

“My secret admirer knows me better than my coworker,” Tooru sniffed as though his cheeks weren’t growing warm. “I’ll have you know I’ve been collecting some to decorate my apartment!”

“Okay…why does he know that?”

“He doesn’t, he says so in the note— hold on! How do you know they’re a ‘he’? They could be a girl! Guys don’t usually notice stuff like that.”

“Sure, usually. But for a crush? Absolutely. Besides…” Atsumu turned away to finish refilling the fridge. “Girls tend to be less shy about sentimental stuff like this. If they make you a present, they’ll give it to ya personally. Guys, though…they get embarrassed by any advances that aren’t just…askin’ ya out.”

“Speaking from experience?”

“Don’t throw stones from a glass house, Tooru-kun~” Atsumu shot Tooru a blithe smile. “Now put that stuff away and get back to work.”

“So unromantic,” Tooru scoffed, “no wonder your boyfriend’s so scary.”

“I heard that!”

☙❧

Tooru knew, objectively, that he had it good. He was the shining star of the collegiate leagues, poised to receive multiple Division 1 offers once he graduated. As the starting setter of the university team, he could work towards any degree he wanted while resting assured that he would earn the career of his dreams. Every time Iwaizumi spent an entire day frowning at his laptop and nodding off over his notes, Tooru felt a burst of gratitude for his own circumstances.

Even the cafe wasn’t so bad. Sure, most days he had to bite his tongue so hard, he nearly tasted blood. But at least he didn’t hate his coworkers, and he had a finish line in sight: he would graduate in March, sign on to one of the teams that sent him offers, and leave behind this university and this cafe, never to be seen again. And until then, he had occasional presents from his secret admirer to look forward to—just the week before, he’d gotten pressed marigolds to add to his autumn decor, along with a sports energy drink powder packet to help him “stay upright when you’re overworking yourself.” But all the little perks and presents in the world couldn’t ease the horror of—

“Oh my god, Christmas is next week.”

Atsumu shot him a bemused look. “Yeah? I just told ya all about my plans with Omi. Weren’t ya listening?”

“It’s next week?” Tooru repeated, ignoring the question.

“Yer such a jerk! I was so excited, and you just ignored me?”

“Tsumu-chan.” Tooru pushed himself off the counter to take Atsumu by the shoulders. “I love you—”

“No, ya don’t!”

“—but if I have to listen to someone’s romantic plans with their romantic partners, I will be walking into the sea.”

An abashed wrinkle came to the corner of Atsumu’s eye, though that didn’t make him stop pouting. “We’re not close to the ocean.”

“How is that what you—”

“Morning.”

Tooru whirled towards the entrance (definitely not with a squeak, thank you very much), and felt the clouds around his head disperse at the sight of Iwaizumi. “Iwa-chan! Hello!” He had to fight to not skip to the register, ignoring Atsumu’s quiet scoff. “Is it still morning?”

With a small frown that made him look unbearably cute, Iwaizumi pulled out his phone and squinted at the time. “It’s not noon yet.”

“...You’re kidding.”

“Why would I kid about that?”

“I still have four hours here?”

“...Ah.” Tooru couldn’t believe what he was seeing: a small, sympathetic smile softening Iwaizumi’s weary features. “Did you open again?”

He didn’t often ask after Tooru, mostly because Tooru was more than happy to offer his own unsolicited updates. But he always remembered the smallest details, and when he did ask, his quiet concern always made Tooru’s chest feel warm. “Yeah,” he sighed, feeling the corner of his lips tick up despite himself, “but it’s alright. Seeing you makes it worth it.”

It really was worth it, especially to see Iwaizumi’s eyes widen and ears flush that sweet pink again. “...Can I have my coffee now?”

“Already on it!” Atsumu called.

Iwaizumi’s ears stayed pink as he paid and rounded the counter to the pick up area. The color only ebbed away when he accepted his drink from Atsumu, much to Tooru’s quiet satisfaction. “Here ya go!” Atsumu cheerfully announced.

“Thanks.”

“Hey, Iwa-kun?”

Iwaizumi stuttered to a halt and turned just enough to pin Atsumu under a small, confused frown. “Yeah?”

“I’m feelin’ nosy about our favorite regular.” His smile stayed blithe, even as Iwaizumi’s eyes flickered towards Tooru and his ears warmed again. “D’ya have any plans for Christmas yet?”

“Don’t you have a boyfriend?”

“Oh, I’m not asking for myself! Just curious, thas’all.”

“Oh…then…not really.”

“Aw, what a shame,” Atsumu hummed, with a smile that said quite the opposite.

“...I guess.” With a last quick glance at Tooru, Iwaizumi adjusted his backpack and made his way to his regular spot. When he was safely tucked into his seat and had his headphones settled over his ears, Tooru landed a backhanded smack to Atsumu’s arm.

“Ow, what the hell?”

“That’s my question!” Tooru hissed. “What the hell was that?”

“Oh please, don’t act like you weren’t wondering,” Atsumu scoffed, rolling his eyes even as he rubbed at his arm. “I did you a favor.”

“Being embarrassed by the world’s most obvious wingman is not a favor!” Never mind that a knot he hadn’t noticed in his stomach had loosened the moment Iwaizumi reluctantly admitted he didn’t have Christmas plans. No Christmas plans meant no partner meant Tooru could continue crushing on him guiltlessly, even if he still needed to scrape together the courage to actually…do anything about his crush. It wasn’t fair, how much harder it got to flirt the more he actually liked a person.

“Oh, quit moping.” Tooru squawked from under the hand ruffling his hair. “Just cuz ya don’t have plans doesn’t mean all hope is lost! You might get another gift from your secret admirer!”

“Shut up!”

Too late. Tooru didn’t miss the way Iwaizumi went still for a breath, eyes flickering towards the counter, before snapping back to his laptop.

“Nah, don’t worry. I still think it’s him.”

“Well, I don’t,” Tooru grumbled, letting the top of the coffee grinder drop with a dulled clang over new beans. “If Iwa-chan liked me, he would say something. He wouldn’t jump through all these hoops.”

“Fer chrissake.”

Tooru wasn’t sure why, out of everything about the strange secret admirer situation, Atsumu was so stubborn in his belief that Iwaizumi was the one behind the gifts. Iwaizumi didn’t do secret gifts and notes. He certainly didn’t do pressed leaves and flowers and sports energy drink powder packets.

Okay, maybe he did the last thing. But still. If he’d wanted to give them to Tooru, he would’ve just…handed them over. The sad thing was, as much as Tooru wanted to relish the feeling of having a secret admirer, any happiness he felt was tinged with a bitter disappointment that the gifts weren’t coming from Iwaizumi.

At least he could keep enjoying the view. Iwaizumi only stayed for a few hours—“Practice is earlier today.”—but in those few hours, he kept standing and stretching a bit before sitting back down to work some more. Something about not wanting to stay seated for too long because it’d be bad for his muscles. Tooru couldn’t quite recall the reason, but he could say that he was in full agreement. Anything to let him continue playing witness to the bulge of Iwaizumi’s bicep and deep sigh he let out as he stretched his shoulders.

“One more hour,” Tooru finally sighed, rolling his neck and shoulders during a brief lull in customers.

“Congratulations,” Atsumu muttered with a wry grin. “Any plans for the rest of the day?”

“I’m going home and taking a nice nap before practice.” He noticed a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye and looked up in time to see Iwaizumi making his way to the bathroom.

“God, yer like a prairie dog.”

Tooru frowned at Atsumu. “I’m sorry, we can’t all have some weird enemies-to-lovers thing in high school. Some of us have to make do with sad little crushes.”

“You said it, not me.”

Tooru only dignified his coworker with a stuck-out tongue as he made his shift drink. If he were totally honest, he did feel a prick of jealousy for the way Atsumu had met his boyfriend: years in high school pining away, until they found out they would be attending the same university, playing on the same collegiate team. The thought of holding back his feelings on a daily basis, instead of at infrequent tournaments and training camps made Atsumu pop his secrecy like a balloon and blurt out his feelings. By some miracle, Sakusa had felt the same, and the rest was history.

Meanwhile, Tooru had spent high school thinking he was straight and dating his way through girls who didn’t understand his devotion to volleyball. He didn’t realize he was bisexual until college, which meant his lame gay puppy crush was happening just as he entered his 20s instead of his teens. And he hated it. He hated feeling like this, so easily flustered and pining and hoping something would change without actually doing anything to change things himself.

“Leavin’ already, Iwa-kun?”

Tooru’s head snapped up to see Iwaizumi frozen in the middle of sliding his laptop into his backpack. “Ah…yeah. Practice is soon.”

“Want a snack before ya go? Kawa here loves the peppermint brownie!”

“Tsumu, you snitch!” Tooru gasped, secretly preening under Iwaizumi’s soft scoff and softer grin. “Now he’s not going to think I’m a big serious volleyball player!”

“The occasional brownie won’t ruin your playing,” Iwaizumi reassured him in a flat voice. “But I shouldn’t, not right before practice. Maybe next time.”

“I’ll have a nice and warm one ready for you!” Tooru called after him as he left the cafe.

“Maybe yer right.” He turned to see Atsumu shaking his head at him. “Maybe it’s not him. With how obvious you are, he’d have no reason to feel nervous about askin’ ya out.”

Tooru didn’t have any comeback besides narrowed eyes and a muttered, “I’m going to restock the coffee and not think about the injustice of you having Christmas plans.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Tooru hauled the box of coffee bean bags to the cafe’s merchandise shelf and began refilling the lines of beans. Arabica, French Roast, Peppermint Hot Chocolate, Espresso—

Wait, what?

His eyes snapped back to the packet that they had just scanned over. Sure enough, it was a little white paper packet with green lettering, clearly taken from a larger box of hot chocolate. The lettering promised peppermint hot chocolate “with real peppermint crumbles!” And next to the packet was a now-familiar envelope, holding a now-familiar slip of blue notebook paper with now-familiar neat writing.

You really like candy canes. I don’t really see the appeal of mint, but my roommate swears by this hot chocolate around Christmas, so I asked if I could take a packet. Maybe this will become a favorite of yours, too.

“Tooru-kun? Why’d you stop?”

His head shot up, and he was mortified to realize that his eyes were stinging with the threat of grateful tears. “Nothing, just…found something.” The sound of a gasp made him grin as he hurried through the rest of the stock and returned behind the counter.

“Lemme see, lemme see!”

Tooru skirted Atsumu's grabby hands to present the note over his head. "Behold! A Christmas prese— hey!"

Atsumu reached up and plucked the note out of Tooru's hand to coo over it. "Awww he—

"They."

"—noticed yer favorite candy? And robbed his roommate for ya? That's so romantic!"

"...Robbery is romantic?"

"Sure! I stole Samu's shirts for my first coupla dates with Omi!"

"...Huh. Well, my admirer specifically said they asked their roommate, so…wait, that's not the point!" Tooru sputtered. “The point is that they’re observant and sweet about it, and they don’t expect any congratulations for it, they just want to spread a little happiness, and…”

His words faded as he stared at the note, noticing something for the first time: a slight smudge to the otherwise-neat letters, as though something had brushed the still-drying ink. It looked an awful lot like his admirer was left-handed.

Iwaizumi was left-handed.

No. No. He couldn’t let himself hope. Iwaizumi didn’t even know about how much he liked peppermint until today, thanks to Atsumu’s blatant wingmanning. No amount of wishful thinking and Atsumu’s conspiracies would make it any more likely for Iwaizumi to be the secret admirer.

That’s what he told himself, at least. If his mind still lingered over all the possible “what if”s, well…nobody’s perfect.

☙❧

Against all odds, Tooru made it past Christmas and New Year’s unscathed. It helped that he was forced to work less during that holiday week, though for once, he found himself wishing he could be back at the cafe when he was stuck at home. He loved spending the New Year with his family, but he couldn’t help wondering what, if any, presents his admirer might have left him.

Never mind the fact that the gifts had stopped while Iwaizumi was out of town. Correlation did not mean causation…or something like that.

He didn’t fully realize how much he’d come to look forward to the gifts until mid-January, when he arrived to work on a Saturday afternoon and was presented with a tiny gift bag dangling off of Atsumu’s finger. “Awwww, Atsu-chan! I didn’t get you anything.”

Atsumu rolled his eyes. “You know this isn’t from me.”

“Then who—? Oh!” Tooru snatched the bag off of Atsumu’s finger and peered inside. He found a red good luck charm and, sure enough, a slip of blue notebook paper.

Happy New Year. It’s a bit late, but I hope this can bring you some luck this year. Honestly, you won’t need it for V.League try-outs. You’ll be the best setter they’ve ever seen.

“Why’re ya crying? What’d the bastard say?!”

“These are happy tears, you idiot,” Tooru laughed, hastily wiping his tears away. “He…he knows I’ll be going to V.League try-outs this year. How does he know that?”

“I knew it! You said ‘he’! D’you admit that yer admirer’s Iwaizumi?”

Heat rushed to Tooru’s cheeks when he met Atsumu’s knowing, glinting eyes. “N-no! Not necessarily…”

“Right. And the fact that he came in this morning is just coincidence,” Atsumu said with a snort. “He looked mighty disappointed to find me here alone, by the way. Not that that has anything to do with anything.”

“Shut up!” Tooru shoved at Atsumu’s shoulder with a helpless laugh.

He would never admit it out loud, but Atsumu’s theory was proving to be more and more likely. The thought was thrilling and terrifying all at once. Here he was, so impossibly close to the two things he wanted most: a place on a Division One team, and Iwaizumi. At least the V.League was something he’d been working toward for most of his life.

Iwaizumi, though…he could only call upon luck and the other man’s feelings. Tooru was so close, the clues were lining up so well, that the thought of his guess being wrong made his stomach twist into knots. If his admirer wasn’t Iwaizumi, then this whole endeavor would become incredibly disappointing for both himself and whoever his admirer did turn out to be.

As the gifts continued, they began to show hints of the admirer: a favorite candy, the flavors of sports drinks that he avoided, a mention of his mother’s cooking.

Then, a week before Valentine’s Day, Tooru found a Vabo-chan keychain with a note tied to it like a carrier pigeon.

I don’t know if you have plans for Valentine’s Day. If you do, then I’m so sorry if these trinkets have made you uncomfortable at all.

If you don’t, and you would like to spend it with me, could you leave a note here with your answer? You can accept or reject me, but either way, I’d like to know. I don’t want any chocolates to go to waste.

Chocolates…chocolates on Valentine’s Day. Usually girls gave chocolates on Valentine’s Day. Was his guess wrong? Was his admirer in fact a young woman and not the young man he’d been yearning after for the past year?

He shook himself out of that spiral. Whoever his admirer turned out to be, he knew one things for certain: he wanted to meet them.

And so, with a piece of plain white lined paper torn out of his Spanish notebook, he followed the instructions and left a note in return, for the first time in the months that he’d been receiving gifts.

I’d love to~ I close on Valentine’s Day, but we’ll be closing a few hours earlier for the holiday. You come here often enough to leave all these presents, so…I’ll see you here?

Two days later, he found a slip of blue paper with five short words.

Yeah. I’ll see you then.

“Holy shit,” he whispered at the paper. “I have a valentine.”

☙❧

Valentine's Day found Tooru breaking one of his cardinal rules of fashion: he was wearing his favorite dark jeans to work, putting them at risk of coffee stains. But he also had a chance at breaking a years-long streak of being single on the holiday, so screw it. He deserved to break a rule.

"The second yer done with dishes, ya have to change out of your work shirt," Atsumu reminded him for the umpteenth time that shift.

"I know, Mom."

"Snark all ya want, it's not gonna be my fault if yer valentine sees ya in the orange monstrosity before ya even leave for yer date." Atsumu fell silent, eyes widening in horror. "Oh my god," he whispered, "I really do sound like my mom."

As nagging as his coworker was, Tooru immediately missed his distracting presence when he was left alone for the last hour of business. He nearly dropped the espresso cups at least three times while making orders in that hour, and as soon as he locked the doors and flicked off the cheery neon "Open" sign, he moved faster than ever before through the closing procedures.

Once the meeting time rolled around, Tooru had not only changed into his teal shirt and gray cardigan, but he'd also had the chance to fix his hair in the cafe bathroom.

All that preparation, and he still jolted at the sound of a light knock at the front door. He peeked out from the backroom at the glass door, his heart swelling with joy as soon as he made out the person outside.

There, looking like a dream in black slacks and a green button-down that brought out the olive tones in his eyes, stood Hajime Iwaizumi. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and he fiddled with a small gift bag as he stared up at the sky. Tooru could tell he had tried and failed to tame his messy hair, the strands already springing out of the soft combover he'd attempted.

Happiness and anxiety unlike anything he'd felt before swirled in Tooru's stomach as he made his way through the store and flicked off the lights on his way to the door. Iwaizumi had looked at the door when the lights started switching off, giving Tooru the unique pleasure of gazing into those lovely eyes as he unlocked the door.

Iwaizumi backed away from the door to give Tooru space to open and lock it from outside, but they still stood just a breath away from each other when Tooru turned from the store.

"It's you," he whispered.

"Y-yeah," Iwaizumi admitted, sounding strangely hoarse. "Um…surprise? Oh, uh, here." He suddenly held the small gift bag between them.

Tooru wasn't surprised to see some peppermint-dusted chocolates inside, but pure joy and gratitude still made his eyes sting when he met Iwaizumi's gaze again. "They look wonderful," he said with a smile. "I didn't know you like to cook, Iwa-chan."

Like clockwork, the nickname made those tan cheeks turn a sweet pink. "I…I don't. I mean, I don't cook sweets, not really. So…sorry if those don't taste good."

"Still…thank you. For this and for…for everything else." The more Tooru thought about the series of little trinkets and gifts, the more he marveled at the idea of Iwaizumi so diligently taking note of his life and preferences. "You…you remembered so much about me."

"I…yeah." Iwaizumi grimaced, and Tooru couldn't imagine why, not until he asked, "That wasn't…creepy or anything, right?"

A soft laugh slipped out of Tooru before he could hold it back, but it was hard to feel guilty about it, not when it earned him an even deeper blush from his secret admirer. "I could answer that," he murmured, stepping in close and relishing the sight of those hazel eyes widening. "But I think I'd rather kiss you, instead."

A quiet "Oh" was all the warning he got before he was pulled into a slow, deep, swoon-worthy kiss. Iwaizumi kissed with intent, as though he wanted to make sure every brush of his lips would be seared into Tooru's memory. Tooru tried to give as good as he got, and he was rewarded with the sound of a low groan and Iwaizumi's hands falling to his hips to back him into the storefront.

Everything about him was intoxicating: the amber musk of his cologne, the note of chocolate on his tongue, the feeling of his hands trailing up to Tooru's waist, the sound of his soft noises and groans. Tooru wanted to catalog and file away every detail of this kiss that he'd thought he would never experience.

When they parted, Tooru felt drunk, a feeling he saw mirrored on Iwaizumi's face. "Woah."

"Woah," Tooru agreed, laughing. "You'd better get this date started, Iwa-chan, or I'll keep you here and kiss you all night."

"That's not the worst idea you've had," Iwaizumi grumbled. But he stepped away, letting their only contact be Tooru grabbing his hand.

"Hey, Iwa-chan," Tooru hummed as Iwaizumi led the way to the bus stop.

"What, Nosy-kawa?"

"Hey!" Tooru gasped, helpless to the laughter shaking out of him. He valiantly ignored the heat prickling through him at the sight of Iwaizumi's smirk.

"...Well?"

"Nothing, just…I am oh-so-happy it was you! I’ve been hoping you were my secret admirer since the first gift!"

Iwaizumi didn't say anything in response, and he didn't need to. The pink on his cheeks and the gentle squeeze of his fingers told Tooru everything he wanted to hear.

Their date had barely started, but Tooru already knew that this would be the best Valentine's Day he'd ever had.

21 notes · View notes