#here u go heres what my brain decided to come up with at 330am as i was falling asleep

[akascow]

their coach said they were so close they could probably read each other's minds. little did coach know, iwaizumi could, well, everyones in fact

it's usually just jumbled thoughts people have about life as they pass through the hallways, grumbles about tests and whatnot, but a distant thought catches him off guard one day:

‘god i wish i could kiss hajime right now’

the voice was unrecognizable, though they always were, always sounding more like hajimes own inner voice than actual people he knew

he was used to compliments from fans, but for some reason this one stuck with him, felt genuine. they used his given name, no formalities no family name, it was unusual to say the least, but he couldn't stop thinking about it

at least until practice

he'd gotten used to oikawa's inner thoughts over the years, his best friend usually inwardly making fun of his obsessive fans or quietly cursing out his opponents, or his monologue tangents about volleyball, he found it endearing, something only he knew about his friend, and something he felt more connected to him with, like a secret look into who tooru actually was as a person, even if it on was one sided.

they could tell each other everything, well, almost everything. hed refused to tell anyone about his,, powers? if that's even what you'd call it. he assumed it would weird people out, after all you wouldn't want someone you know being about to hear your thoughts on blast 24/7

for the most part hajime tried to ignore others inner thoughts, he was decent enough to know it was probably some kind of an invasion of privacy or something, whether they knew it or not, and he'd seemed to get pretty good at tuning people out, the thoughts just turing into everyday background noise for him

practice was always great, an easy way to take his mind off other minds, get into the game even if it was only for a short couple hours, it was just something to focus on other than background noise.

he was finished cleaning up in the locker room, everyone had gone home, or so he'd thought

he heard the thoughts before he heard the slams of the volleyballs against the court.

iwaizumi peered into the gym to see oikawa trying to perfect his serve yet again.

the same thought he's heard from his best friend thousands of times before: ‘gotta get better, gotta beat’ hajime just stared, tooru will never see himself as others do, never see how amazing he already is.

he just sighed and loudly pushed the door open to make his presence known

oikawa jolted and looked over, startled

‘oi hajime i didn't see you there hah’

hajime? no iwachan?

the sun was setting for the day forming dancing golden shadows against the walls through the windows, and highlighting the sharpest but softest points of his friend

woah

he could feel the warmth on his back

‘you should've been packed an hour ago, what're you still doing- actually don't answer that. i already know the answer’

oikawa just gave a sheepish grin, the same one he always gives when he's caught overworking, a way-too-common occurrence

‘cmon i thought we were gonna walk home together’

‘oh! right sorry i’ll get ready- hold on don't leave without me’ oikawa scrambled to clean the volleyballs from the floor and put back the net

he'd never seen him move so fast, weird

hajime grinned to himself and walked to the doorway, oikawas inner ‘shitshitshit’ mixing with the night cicadas being the only thing he could hear.

tooru came out a few minutes later and they locked up and started their walk home, though the conversations (inner and outloud) were weirdly,, quiet…

they watched the sun set as they always do, went to the corner store to grab last minute snacks and walked to their houses; their nightly routine.

nearing their street where they always went separate ways, hajime glanced up to say goodbye, but stopped when he looked at oikawa's strained face

this is weird

‘what's happening, what's wrong with your face’

‘ >:o my face? you should see yours, ya angry porcupine’ oikawa looked fake-hurt, but he seemed like he needed to say something more, and struggling

‘okay well is that all then’

oikawa blinked and frowned, ‘uh yeah i guess uh see you monday then’ but iwaizumi could hear a single inner word contradicting him ‘no’

‘right, okay, bye…’

he watched oikawa turn and walk down his street

he turned his own way wondering what his friend possibly needed to say but just couldn't face-to-face, though his answer came in a single inner line silenced by distance.

‘i love you hajime’

? haji-

he stopped dead in tracks

…oh