Rhythm Together - Short Story 2017
Aug. 19th, 2017 03:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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Title: rhythm together
Rating: PG
Prompt: “Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here!” J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Fandom/Series: Haikyuu!!
Word Count: 1089
Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, profit from the story and all creative rights to the characters belong to their original creator(s).
Summary: Sometime after Aoba Johsai’s loss to Karasuno, Oikawa joins a rock band.
“Is this a ploy to get more girls to like you?”
Oikawa looks up to where Iwaizumi is staring at him, leaning against the door frame of the entrance to the music room. His arms are crossed, and there’s a judgment so visceral in his pose that makes Oikawa kind of jealous.
“What do you mean, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa says, innocently, scrolling through his phone for a tuning app. He’d been trying to play some basic chord progressions that one of the members of the band had tried to show him, but there was something off-sounding every time Oikawa strummed the guitar. “I would never engage in a ploy. My intentions are always straightforward and pure.”
“I thought I already told you that straightforward and pure coming from you makes everything else you say impure.”
Oikawa humphs. “This time I’m being serious.” He plays a low E on the tuning app, and then tries to make his guitar sound the same. After a few strums, he decides it sounds the same and moves on to the next string. It’s only a few moments that later that Iwaizumi snaps and walks forward, grabbing the guitar out of Oikawa’s hands. Oikawa watches as Iwaizumi deftly tunes the guitar to perfect pitch. “And besides,” Oikawa continues. “I think you’ve got something wrong. I don’t need to join a rock band to get more girls to like me. That just happens on its own.”
It’s not really a surprise when Iwaizumi shoves the guitar to Oikawa’s chest and stomps out of the room, muttering curses under his breath.
***
Despite Iwaizumi’s complaints, he’s front row and centre when the band finally lets Oikawa play.
It’s a small crowd, but it’s filled with familiar faces — somehow word had gotten around and nearly all of Oikawa’s fanbase had come to watch. Iwaizumi stands out, tall and stoic, in the midst of the crowd that's comprised of 75% of high school girls. In the far back, Oikawa spots Hanamaki and Matsukawa, laughing and taking photos of how Iwaizumi stands nearly a head taller than everyone else.
“Wow,” Shinji, the bassist, says, peering through the curtain with Oikawa, as they’re waiting backstage for their cue to come on. “That’s a lot more girls than we’re used to.”
“It’s because of this guy,” Ryuuchi says, pointing a finger at Oikawa as he walks past to peek through the curtains too.
Oikawa doesn’t even stop himself from preening. He gets a flick on the forehead for his efforts.
The show itself is an experience in its own right. There’s a difference between the exhilaration Oikawa feels when he’s on the court and the rush he feels when he’s up there performing. He was only given a simple part to perform, a repeating rhythm of four chords, but it matches the song and Oikawa can’t help but feel lost in the moment. They’re all doing their individual parts but it comes together in a disjointed but intriguing wave.
Oikawa catches Iwaizumi’s eyes in the middle of the performance, and then can’t help but keep meeting them afterward.
***
Later, after they pack up, Iwaizumi’s waiting outside for him.
It’s a surprise to say the least, and Oikawa waves the rest of his band off as he rushes to where Iwaizumi is.
“This is a surprise, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa says, bumping his shoulder into Iwaizumi’s own. Oikawa gets a bump back, harder and more forceful, but when it makes him sway, Iwaizumi balances him, before taking one of the bags of equipment Oikawa’s carrying in his hands. He tries to snatch it back, but Iwaizumi keeps it out of reach and then just strides forward.
“Didn’t know if your band members knew how to deal with your ego,” Iwaizumi says in return. “Needed to make sure that your head isn’t off in the clouds.”
“Always keeping me grounded,” Oikawa says, smiling. “What would I do without you?”
The walk home is silent, with nothing but the quiet chirp of crickets to accompany them. There’s a question, hidden somewhere in there, and Oikawa waits until Iwaizumi is ready to ask it.
“Are you ready to tell me why you decided to join a band?”
And there it is. Oikawa would say he’s surprised, but he really isn’t, especially with the way that Iwaizumi had been giving him looks every time Oikawa said he was off to band practice.
“Would it be weird to say that it’s because of you?” Oikawa says, truthfully, in the way he can only be truthful when night falls and there are only the stars out to judge. Truthfully, like the way he finally let himself cry on the way back home, tired and defeated after their match from Karasuno, because all his hard work was still no match for Kageyama’s talent.
“I don’t understand,” Iwaizumi says finally, after a few moments of silence.
Oikawa sighs. “Should I even try to explain to someone with a small a brain as you, Iwa-chan?” He gets a glare in return, so he answers seriously. “Our high school volleyball career is over, Iwa-chan. How else can I connect with you if not through something you know and love?”
Oikawa’s watched Iwaizumi’s talent for guitar grow for years, from the first time cautiously picked up a guitar at ten years old, to the way his hand now curves comfortably against the neck of his acoustic (which Oikawa knows Iwaizumi has named Chi-chan). There was a niggling doubt in the back of his band, weeks after they stopped going to volleyball practices and Oikawa saw Iwaizumi less and less. There are only a few people who know Oikawa, no one who knows Oikawa as much as Iwaizumi knows him, and Oikawa wants to try his best to keep them in his life.
There’s a lot unsaid, but like always, Iwaizumi manages to read it all. “Idiot,” Iwaizumi says, walking on like Oikawa hadn’t said anything. There’s a flush on his cheeks that betrays his nonchalance. “We may not be on the volleyball team any more, but there’s no way we’re ever separating. We’re stuck together. Got that?”
After he says it, Iwaizumi starts to walk faster, leaving Oikawa standing there in the middle of the street. It takes a moment to sink in, but as it does, Oikawa laughs, running to catch up to Iwaizumi.
Maybe Iwaizumi’s right. He’s been the voice of reason for Oikawa for so long, it seems natural the way his words seem to calm the storm brewing in Oikawa’s heart.
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