Chapter Text
The rain did not stop for a long time.
"Hey, Iwa-Chan~".
A voice...a stupid, weird and irritating voice called out to me in a girly manner.
Millions of little water droplets of the summer rain continued to slap the road. It made a soothing sound. The sound of rain...it was peaceful to hear.
If I slapped him right now, would it make a pleasant sound too?
"Oi! Iwa-Chan?"
The clouds were dark and mighty, sort of scary. The sky rumbled and roared as if it was dying to eat something. The students hid from the rain with their backpacks, trying their best not to get wet. No one had expected a sudden downpour like this one. It wasn't their fault for not bringing umbrellas.
"Iwa-Chan!"
I sighed and leaned against the cool pillar. He came and looked up at the sky. His hair was flowing gently because of the wind and he adjusted his locks with his fingers. I looked away.
"Stop calling me that already. I've been telling you for years now-"
"Aw, don't be such a baby Iwa-Chan," he said, smirking, "I know you like it when I call you that."
"You're pathetic," I said and kept on looking at the students rushing to their homes after a hard day at Aoba Johsai. They would be happy soon though. The school year was about to end.
"Let's go home. I brought an umbrella today," I heard him say but didn't look at him.
"You know, you can be useful sometimes," I muttered and started to walk beside him under the plastic umbrella. The sound of rain falling on the synthetic surface was loud but pleasant.
"Sometimes? I'm always useful!"
"Yeah right," I scoffed and we kept on walking. I inhaled deeply and took in the smell of the wet mud and the sound of cars swishing past; fortunately, they were far enough to not splash any water at us. A random dog started to bark from behind the gate of a house and I glared at him.
"Hey, Iwa-Chan...what am I to you?" Oikawa said suddenly.
"Eh, what the heck?"
"Just answer it!"
"Ugh. To me, you're the evil black, rain cloud on a nice and sunny day."
"That was quite poetic, but it hurt me, you know." he pouted.
"My pleasure."
He pouted again and quickened his pace. I sighed and tried to keep up. I have no idea how I had managed to survive this diva's drama up to this point.
"Look, Iwa-Chan! The bottom of our trousers are starting to get wet,"
"What's so cool about that?" I frowned at him.
"Boy, Iwa-Chan. It means we're too tall for this little umbrella now! You don't remember? We found this when we were six!"
"We did?" I asked nonchalantly. I checked the plain colorless umbrella out, trying to remember. It was small and was meant for small kids. It had been taped here and there. This umbrella was ancient.
"Yeah, we did! You should remember Iwa-Chan. It was such an important day! I can't believe you don't remember," he said, frowning.
"Ha? What're you acting like a drama queen for? Dude, we've spent hundreds of days together and are obviously gonna spend more. How do you expect that I'm going to remember all of them?" I said, half shouting.
I heard him sigh heavily. I shook my head. Speaking of days, for how long have I known this guy anyway? It must be most of my life. Somehow, we've always been together.
Kindergarten. Middle school. High school. Now it's time for University. Will we go to the same University?
Haha. No doubt about that.
I suddenly realized that we were not taking our usual route home. That is why I don't think when I walk. I end up losing track of where I'm going. And this guy always takes advantage of it.
"Why are we here?" I asked him.
He had brought us to a vending machine. There was a little shed beneath which the machine stood, and into it, he walked.
"Come on in, Iwa-Chan. You'll catch a cold."
I nonchalantly entered while he went to the machine to get us something. I heard him hum as he pushed the buttons. The coins he put made a clinking sound and then there were gentle thumps. He bent down and pulled out two cans of soda.
"Here," he offered and I took one.
I popped the can open and the drink inside fizzled. I put my lips and felt the bubbles pop on my mouth. I took a sip and then felt the cold fire gush down my throat.
"This is nice," I said. I was sure I was going to have this drink again.
"Iwa-Chan," he said, staring at his muddy shoes now.
"Hm?" I said, taking another sip.
"I have something to tell,"
"Yeah?" I said, gulping down half the juice. I cursed and felt the gas rush out my nose as I gave a huge burp. "Sorry," I said. "This thing is unusually good,"
He was smiling at me weird. Usually, his smiles were evil and full of some ulterior motive. But this smile...
This smile was sad.
"What's wrong?" I asked. It was not everyday Oikawa was like this.
"I'm going to Argentina,"
"Eh? Argentina? For vacation? How many days?" I said, throwing the drink in the bin.
"Not for vacation, Iwa-Chan. I'm going there for volleyball,"
"How long will you stay there then?"
"Years probably. Dad already bought an apartment and everything. I'll be living next to his friend's place."
"So, like you'll be there for how many years?"
"I don't know," he said, scratching the back of his head.
"Maybe several years," he continued.
"Oh."
It gave me quite a shock, to be honest. It felt like a sudden icy blow had left all my insides torn and frozen over.
"I'll be aiming for the Argentine League." He paused and I kept looking at him. I knew why he wanted to go there. It was because of his role model. He had gone head over heels for this player we had watched play a lit match during our childhood.
"I see. Well, that's great. To be honest, I wasn't expecting this. Well, you don't seem particularly happy about that. It's great, isn't it? Going all the way to Argentina..."
He said nothing, just kept on staring at me with a slightly open mouth. I tried to break the weird pause.
"I'm glad to see you're this serious about volleyball. I think I'll be on the University team, but in the end, I won't be taking volleyball up as a career,"
He still wasn't saying anything. I rubbed the back of my neck and continued.
"I guess I'll become an engineer. I'm good at Math, right. And my mock exams went well too. I guess I'm as set as you are, haha,"
That expression was as etched upon as face as ever and he was as mute as a dumb donkey. I kicked him on the knees.
"Say something already, dammit!"
He rubbed the spot where I had kicked him. It occurred to me that he hadn't even winced or said 'ouch'. He took a sip of his drink slowly and wiped that droplet of rain on his cheek.
"That's all you have to say? " he asked in a small voice.
"eh?" I paused. Was I supposed to say anything else?
"I mean, I did think we'd be going to the same university. But that was childish of me. I mean, you can't expect two people to stay together forever, right?"
A sudden rattling noise and the sound metal clashing against metal was heard by me.
I found myself pinned to the wall.
His wet brown hair stuck to his forehead and his cheeks were flushed. A drop of water fell from a wet lock of his hair and trickled down the bridge of his nose.
"You don't get it, do you?" he whispered, staring at the intensely at the ground. He was shaking.
I did not answer his question.
He snorted, still looking at the ground, and then started to laugh. "It's alright. I knew you would react like this. You don't get it after all." He stopped pinning me to the wall and went back to his usual spot beside me.
"Don't get what? Why the hell are you talking in riddles? What am I supposed to understand, eh?"
"Don't get mad, Iwa-Chan. It's not that you had a big brain in the first place," I gave him a nice punch as a comeback.
"Ow, that hurt," he said, rubbing the spot. "Anyways, I was expecting you would say something like - wahhht! My old pal Oikawa whom I've known for my entire life is finally leaving me! Aaahhh how am I supposed to survive without him?" he said all this with melodramatic facial expressions which creeped me out even more. I slapped his back.
"Shut the fuck up. I'd never say anything like that."
"I wish you did," he muttered.
I quickly glanced at him. He was looking at me with a look I had never seen on him before. His eyes, the way his lips were twitching, the way his eyebrows created a pitiful expression...
"So you won't miss me even one bit?" I heard him say in a voice so soft, I could barely hear it.
In that one moment, everything that was keeping me together collapsed. I felt a blow deep inside as if someone had punched me hard. I grew out of breath.
My heart was racing, my mind was blank. My body felt cold and I lost everything. I looked at my arms.
Goosebumps.
"I...I gotta go," I told him.
"Wha-"
"I'm leaving. You finish your drink."
And without hearing his reply or saying another word, I shot out of the shed and ran toward my home as fast as I could.
What the hell...
I heard myself panting and gasping for breath. I was thoroughly drenched and done for.
What is happening...
Oikawa Toori. A guy who was always beside me. Always. In all my troubles and all my challenges, in all my winnings and all joys, he had always been a common factor.
And now he was going to go away forever.
He was going away. Away. Wow. Where was he going again? Argentina? No. Please, God, no.
No more walking home and volleyball with him.
No more getting annoyed at him.
No more Oikawa Tooru beside me..
He's going away.
Wow.
Standing in front of my house, I looked up at the sky. It was clearing. All the thick, black clouds were slowly heading another way.
No, don't go...
please.
And as I watched the sky stop shedding its tears, I let mine fall.
My rain did not stop for a long time.
summer rain ──────── End