final chapter, let's get it !!

"This is gross."

"At least it's less gross than you." Eiko has to say, earning a slap from your spatula in response.

Mei, Misaki, Eiko and you were at your kitchen, the entire counter space and table filled to the brim with used utensils, containers, wrappers, trays, and every possible dairy product you could imagine.

"I can't believe Tooru wooed [Name] enough to get her to make him chocolates for vday lolol." Mei coos, pouring her batch of melted chocolate into a heart-shaped mould.

It's the 13th of February, and you could swear all you heard through the entirety of the week was about valentines day, chocolates, and every related word. It almost drove you insane.

Not insane enough to miss out on making some chocolate for Oikawa, though.

"Shut up!" You defend yourself. "If I didn't give him anything, he's gonna bug my head for the next 354 days that comes afterwards, so I might as well give him some shit and get it over with."

Even before saying so, you knew they wouldn't believe you, and you can't even blame them when Mei and Eiko exchange knowing smiles in response.

"But [Name], isn't your exam gonna be on tomorrow?" Eiko queries, while she pours her melted chocolate into little paper cups.

"It is. I studied a lot today, and I'm gonna finish up the questions Tooru gave me before I go to bed."

Eiko raises an eyebrow at you, giving a strong enough poke to Misaki that some of the frosting goes off from the cup of her little mini cakes.

"It's really real, huh. Like, she's really a simp for Flatkawa, huh."

"Hey!"

Mei butts in right away. "Now, now, Eiko, let's not be rude-"

"You're flat too!"

"What in f- I don't brag about my beautiful face every three minutes though!"

"Shush! It's just an extended back, okay-"

"You two need to shut up before me and Misaki use these pin rollers to smack you two." Mei says, picking up the two items and glaring at you two.

"Anyway, who are you giving your chocolates to, Misaki?" Eiko wants to know instead, dipping her pinky into the frosting and tasting a bit.

"I'm gonna give them to Iwaizumi-kun." She announces. This makes all three of your jaws to drop open, exchanging baffled looks before looking back to Misaki who looks absolutely startled at your responses.

"What?"

"Oh. Nothing."

"It's nothing! You give that chocolate and go, gurl!" You say, pumping your fist into the air. Mei looks very worried, grabbing you when you go to wash your utensils while Eiko continues to chat with Misaki.

"Oh cripes. What do we do? That fish-cut boy has a thing for her, doesn't he? That's gonna break his heart! What are we gonna do!"

"Well, that's true but how about we just let them decide on their own? I feel bad for Hanamaki-senpai, but Misaki wouldn't just make chocolates for Iwaizumi if she didn't have some kind of feelings for him, after all."

Mei still looks a bit worried, but decides to nod in response and instead go join the two.

"I'm giving mine to Tsukki today." Eiko announces out of nowhere. "If that wasn't obvious already."

"I thought you were dating him already, Eiko?" Misaki thinks out loud. "Didn't you go out on a double date with Mei and Suga-san?"

"He only joined because we were going for a space film. And I kinda told him we gotta help Mei and Suga-san to stop acting like moms-"

"Hey! We aren't acting like moms!"

"Nothing happened between us. He called me a try-hard when I wore a dress. That meathead! I wanna take him and Oikawa to a suspicious dead end and give them a knuckle sandwich!"

"Let's not think about violence right before vday lololol. But really, [Name] and Eiko. I can't with you two. It would drive me insane if the guy I like and I banter all the time lolol Sugawara-san is such a sweetheart. We're always holding hands and lowkey flirting all the time lol."

"Hey, we hold hands too, okay?" You say, and your three friends burst out laughing when you get defensive about Oikawa.

As you clean up the mess you have created and look at the little shell-shaped chocolate molds you have chilling in the fridge, you can only hope Oikawa likes them.

He was a pain in the neck for sure, but he really did try his best for you.

In his own, stupid ways, of course....

---

"It's kinda unfair!" Oikawa has to say, from the laptop screen placed in front of you. "Who even has an entrance exam on a day like Valentine's day? Karasuno is kinda shitty."

"At least it's not as shitty as you."

Oikawa laughs in response, waving to you a little from the skype app. "If I was there to pat your hair, I bet you wouldn't think so, [Name]-chan!~"

You almost punch the screen, and he has a smug smile on his face because he could see the way you got irked. And this is probably never going to change, the way his tones are so petty and annoying even if you did like him and was dating him.

And perhaps he liked that part about you, too, because that means there was never silence between you two; you'd fight about some petty thing and then quarrel till someone points it out and makes you two shut up before you begin something new again.

Anyone else, it might have been tiring, but for him, you decide to tolerate it... punching him when necessary, though.

"You got more than half the questions correct, [Name]-chan!" Oikawa has to say, showing his sheet that he was using to mark your answers from earlier. "I think you have a great chance now!"

"What? Really?!" The fact that your well below-average grade in math has reached average now makes you pump your fists in the air, hand automatically going towards the laptop screen before you pause right before your high five smacks your laptop too hard.

Oikawa responds with a loud laugh, gently putting his hand on the screen to reciprocate your action.

"Let's hold hands tomorrow, [Name]-chan~ After you give me some valentines chocolate!"

"Who says I'll give you any chocolate?"

"You're so cruel, [Name]-chan!!!!!" He yells, then pauses for a second. "Oh. You do have your exam tomorrow so... I'll be completely understanding for this year if you give me just some store-bought ones!"

You roll your eyes at his response. You liked this guy, but why must he be SO full of himself like this? It makes you wanna gobbles up all the chocolate you spent half the day making, just so you can tell him you did that.

Wow. You were starting to petty too, now.

Dammitkawa.

"You're unbelievable."

"I'll be getting lots of handmade chocolate anyways, so I'll forgive you for this year!~"

"How do I turn this skype call off?" You say out loud, hoving your mouse over to the 'x' icon. Oikawa's eyes go wide, shaking his head and wailing out loud.

"Wah!! Fine, fine!!! I'll stop! I had something to ask first, [Name]-chan! Do you have any plans after you finish the exam?"

"Nope." You let him know. "Why?"

"Then let's go out. I'll give you some time to get ready, and we can go out on a date!!"

You sigh, hearing the dreaded word again. "Why don't you give up on the pestering about taking me out on a stupid date?"

"But we're dating????? We're supposed to do cute stuff and go out on dates, for crying out loud!! [Name]-chan, you have such a fish brain."

"I'll pulverize you, Oikawa!!"

Oikawa bursts out laughing yet again, and the two of you banter for a bit more until Mei calls you out to the living room.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll pick you up. Good night, my [Name]-chan~"

Oikawa does not wait for a response, instead ending the skype call before he could see your flustered face.

---

The next day was hectic.

Right when you were revising your vocabulary in the morning, your parents drop by you and Mei's apartment, and you head off to the bus station to study a bit more and leave the prepared speech for your twin sister, instead.

Oikawa is considerate enough for once in his life, and he lets you study in peace during your bus ride without bothering you.

In fact, he only asks what Mei was talking about with your parents, and you had let him know that she was trying to convince them to find an apartment closer to Karasuno, if you pass the entrance exam.

Oikawa had let you know that you should pass the exam, because Karasuno was actually very close by to where he is living now with his parents.

The thought makes you happy, so you had given his hand a big squeeze - and then popped the little bag of chocolates you had made for him - dashing off to your class way before he could stop you.

Every ten minutes, Oikawa continues to send you snaps of him taking a bite out of a piece chocolate, him patting the chocolates, him arranging the chocolate in height order, and one of him even wrestling one of his friends who tried to steal one bit of the chocolate... It was endless.

When the lunch hour strikes, Oikawa runs to your class before you can even finish packing, and he escorts you to the bus station, wishing you good luck with your exam and sending you off with a huge bag filled with lots of chocolate he had received from his fangirls.

"I'll only eat your chocolates, [Name]-chan~" He had cooed in a sing-song voice, and it makes you giggle when you think about what a simp you had managed to make out of the one boy who had multiple simps following him around and giving him chocolate... Chocolate which you are now eating as lunch, before your exam at Karasuno that starts at 1 pm.

You're barely able to make it in time, and you're super thankful for Kageyama and Tomo - who had started dating quite recently - and had led you to the exam hall on the fourth floor.

---

The last thing you were expecting was to see a beaming Oikawa Tooru, his eyes lighting up when he spots you from amongst the rest of the students who had taken the exam along with you.

Oikawa waves his hands at you until you notice him, and you run up to him, wondering why he was going against the plan he himself had made.

"Why?" You ask, watching the way he reveals a paper bag he had been holding behind him, and when you take it, you see that it has some familiar clothes inside.

"I brought a change of clothes!" He announces, pointing at the loose grey hoodie he is wearing. "I changed, now you go change and give those to Mei-chan! She's waiting for you on the second floor! That's what she said."

"We could have just gone and changed, why did you ditch your club and come all the way here..?"

Oikawa rubs the nape of his neck, a cheesy smile forming on his face as he does so. "Well. You agreed to go on a legit date with me, so I really don't wanna waste any time I could possibly spend with you."

You're baffled at how he can say such a greasy line with such a straight face, and in your embarrassment, you hurry to dash back into the school grounds before he can say anything else.

As promised, Mei is waiting for you, and she takes your uniform and wishes you well - going so far as to spray you with her expensive perfume which she had received from Sugawara for New Years.

You feel touched when you're walking back outside, especially after your sister had let you know that it was Oikawa himself who had picked out your clothes; and he had not forgotten to put in the burgundy beret that you have grown so attached to.

Maybe it was all of those feelings and thoughts combined in one inside your head that makes you feel oddly nervous when you come back out to see the brunette leaning by the gate.

All of the things that you read in manga and seen in anime feels a bit too real now, something you never expected to ever feel; especially towards someone like Oikawa.

And he seems to notice the change in your attitude; suddenly shy when he puts his hand out for you.

"How was your exam?"

"For the first time, I've come out of an exam hall, knowing that I'll pass the test."

Oikawa responds with a chuckle, squeezing your hand tight as the two of you walk in silence, following by.

It's almost nerve-wracking. It felt as if Oikawa was also feeling overwhelmed - and this would be a first, so you feel a bit at ease when he had let you know that he wanted to take you to a cafe he used to go to a lot after long practice sessions back when he went to Kitagawa Daichi.

While you stand beside his taller build as he orders drinks and desserts of you two's preference, you almost want to slap yourself. It had been completely normal with him this entire time, but now, you could barely say anything to him at all.

Oikawa takes his time, leading you to one of the tables at the corner of the cafe, taking sips out of your drinks and eating some cake before he begins to talk.

"You're acting so gross right now, [Name]-chan!"

Trust Oikawa to ruin a date he's been whining about like a baby for months.

When you clutch your fork and aim it towards him, a big smile forms on Oikawa's face instantly.

"Ah. There it is. That's the [Name]-chan I know!~"

This almost makes you feel a bit bad. He really did associate you with being a violent attacker like this, huh...

"Sorry. I know I'm really mean and say a lot of mean stuff. Especially before, I did act like a big bitch."

Oikawa purses his lips, taking a forkful of his chocolate cake and taking a bite out of it.

"Well, I did annoy you and did a lot of things to make you feel that way. So I was deserving of that, if you think about. I think Mei-chan had helped us a lot, to be together."

"Mei? How?"

"I used to talk with her a lot when you'd run off without me when I go for breakfast. She tried to convince me that I liked you, and that you liked me. I tried to deny it as much as I could."

"Because I'm not pretty like your previous girlfriends?"

"That's there, too."

You point the fork towards him again, and Oikawa bursts out laughing.

"Let me be honest. Sure, you do look quite mediocre from the people I dated before- Hey, you got cake on my new hoodie!" His sentence gets interrupted when you throw a cream puff at him.

"What am I supposed to do when I'm so out of your league? You gotta accept it-"

You roll your sleeves and get up, taking off the beret. Oikawa is laughing so hard that he has doubled over, hitting his forehead on the table in the process.

This makes him whine in response, so you sit down, feeling good that karma has given him some kind of attack in return.

"Just hear me out! I didn't really have people I liked, I was just approached by people, so I just said okay to girls that were pretty-"

"Wow, you really are a crappykawa."

"Hey! It's human nature!!!" He protests, and you shake your head in disapprovement. "I never liked any of them first, but when I said yes to dating, I made sure to learn about them and treat them well. It's not my fault they couldn't continue with me."

"It really is your fault, you're such a shittykawa after all."

"[Name]-chan!! I'm just trying to say that, even if you aren't a major heartthrob like me," he pauses to catch another cream puff you hurl at him, "You're the first girl I liked on my own. It doesn't matter what you look like."

After about a million insults, he managed to - very stupidly - get his point across and you purse your lips in response, taking a sip from your hot cocoa.

"Even when you had longer hair, even when you didn't like me, now that you have shorter hair, and now that you like me. It doesn't matter because I like you."

You don't know how to respond to something like that, and your cheeks are burning when he holds a hand out for you to put yours on. Oikawa is smiling when he sees your reaction, and it warms your heart because it reaches all the way to his eyes - a genuine smile, one that made him feel just as warm as you were feeling.

"I'll go to Karasuno. We'll be closer together when I pass."

Oikawa nods, letting go of your hand and reaching out to his phone. He scrolls through something, then shows you an email.

"See this, [Name]-chan." He says, and you take the phone, eyes going wide the second you see the word 'Argentina'.

"Is this...?"

"You're the first person I'm showing this to. I got a sports scholarship, and I got scouted by a team in Argentina."

The weight of his words take a while to sink in, and your mind takes a moment to realize what an international scholarship implies.

"So... you...We can't..."

"Gosh, you're so cute, [Name]-chan."

You can't even respond, because this was even worse than you failing the exam and him going off to college and living far away... This was much far, you couldn't even visit him or even see him anymore.

Your heart feels heavy, and Oikawa pays attention to your face as you process everything, finishing your drink and looking back at him.

"Then..."

"Aren't you gonna ask me to stay here with you?"

"But a scholarship from Argentina is so much more important! You have to go! Even if I don't want you to, I want you to..."

"Now you're talking like a dumbass, [Name]-chan~" He points out.

"Of course, it's important, but you're important to me too."

Your eyes go wide. "Don't leave a scholarship for me-"

"I won't." He says, firmly. You feel mixed emotions when he takes the phone back, then leans against the chair, eyes on you. "I'm delaying it."

"Huh?"

"Volleyball isn't something I can do forever. Athletes have a certain time before they need to retire." He explains, and you nod. "I need to do something in addition to volleyball, so that I can have a future even after I retire from sports."

You continue to nod, your head throbbing a little because Oikawa talking like this sounds so mature and you had not expected something like that from him.

"So I'm going to college for two years. Finish a course. Then, I'll go to Argentina on this scholarship."

You continue to nod, your brain taking longer to process everything than you would have liked.

"By then, you'd have finished high school, and then we both can," he says, then makes a whistling sound while doing a slant hand motion upwards.

"Wait, what-"

"You'll be 18, too. Perfect."

"Wait-"

Oikawa is clapping his hands together like an idiotic seal now, seemingly very satisfied with what he said.

"You really must be slow, [Name]-chan~ I'm saying, you and I will move to Argentina after you graduate, and we can live tog-"

"WHAT WHEN WHERE HOW-"

Oikawa innocently raises his right hand, pointing at his ring finger.

"Like this, of course."

He says it with such a straight, unbothered face as if he expected you to casually understand it on your own as well. It baffles you, so when you get up and start to dash outside, you can hear him laughing and following you outside.

It doesn't take him long to take your hand and catch you, and Oikawa looks like he's watching Comedy Central, he is laughing THAT hard.

"You're such a baby, [Name]-chan~ Let's work hard so I can make you mine when you're 18!~"

"I wanna woodchip you, dammitkawa!"

Oikawa responds with another loud laugh, this time pulling you to him and giving you a big hug.

"Please? I thought of this a lot, and I can't find anything better than this. Let's stay like this," he pauses because you're trying to break free from his hold, "And banter like this, and still love each other this way. For a long time to come."

"You're impossible, oh my God."

Oikawa lets go of you, and you look up at him, your mind reeling and wondering if you two could really move to Argentina like that. You feel touched that he thought of you while he planned his future out like that, so, now that your mind is a little more stable and your utter bafflement of his words have calmed down, you give his hands a squeeze.

Oikawa smiles at you, lowering his face a little so that his lips press against yours. And honestly, even if you two liked each other so much this way, kisses like this were rare; kisses where he holds you so tight that he wanted to show how he felt with a simple action like this, the way his nose brushes against you, the way he smiles at you when you lean away and show your flustered face to his.

"I really, really love you, [Name]-chan. Let's have many more dates like this, and then move to Argentina together."

You knew the smile on your face would look so stupidly idiotic, but you can't help but to grin in response, nodding while you try to hide your red face against his chest.

"I love you too, Oikawa Tooru."

"So, you will?"

"Sure."

"Even if you'll always be the uglier one between the two of u- Ow!"

It's exhausting, but the two of you are laughing for once while you chase the idiot, claiming to break his ankles when you finally do catch him.

Such was the relationship between Oikawa and you - if you could even call it one - but from the way you had no regrets...

Maybe, under the dim lights of the city... You and Oikawa fell in love with each other a little bit more, today.

And hopefully will continue to, forever.

---

|| THE END ||