Chapter Text
The front door slams open as a man in a suit comes striding in, tension emanating from him with every step as he walks to the counter to order a small black coffee. His phone ringing disrupts the relative quiet that had taken over the cafe in the pre-lunch hours. Glancing at the caller id, the man fists his right hand and presses it into his forehead for a brief moment before he answers.
“Iwaizumi.”
It’s a very formal way to answer a phone call, but the man talking on the phone is unbothered. Nodding his head in thanks to the barista who hands him the coffee, the man makes his way to the back of the cafe to have this conversation in peace. The only other person in this place is someone in a neat sweater working on a laptop, headphones on, ignoring his surroundings.
Sliding into the seat, Iwaizumi takes a sip of coffee as he listens to the person on the other line start to make terrible excuses that he really should have anticipated. But Kuroo is his friend, and friends get the benefit of the doubt, even when they are flaky as fuck. His eyebrows knit together and the coffee gets set back down on the table as he waits for his opening to talk in the heavily one-sided conversation.
“You can’t bail, asshole. The celebration is literally in five hours and I need a date to show up that homophobic jackass from Dateko. Kuroo, you can’t do this.”
He pauses to listen to the lame excuses one more time before snarling, “Well, fuck you too!”
Aggressively, hanging up, Iwaizumi sets the phone back on the table, using a finger to spin the screen around as he tries to figure out his next step. A date. He needs a date. He’s mindlessly sipping his coffee when he notices the sweater boy sitting across from him. He’s young, but stunning. Iwaizumi notices the textbooks and figures this cute college kid might help him out for just the right price.
“Hey,” he calls out, waving to get the man’s attention, motioning for the other man to take out his air pods. Copper eyes stare up at him through thick eyelashes and black frame glasses.
The college student looks up, expression of confusion marring his features as he asks, “Can I help you?”
“This is going to sound fucking weird but I promise I’m not crazy. I need a date to a business function tonight and I’ll pay you 110,000 yen to accompany me.”
His mouth drops open at the offer. A literal stranger who is obviously way older than him just offered him enough money to buy groceries for the month to go on a date with him? Sounded too good to be true but instead of saying that, the words that come out of his mouth are, “is this a weird sex thing?”
Iwaizumi withholds his laughter, a light blush staining his cheeks. This kid is funny. And fucking sexy as hell with the whole nerd chic he has going on. He pauses just slightly before he says, “No, no sex involved, I just really need a date so I can show my asshole competitor that I care about more than work. Plus, it’s a chance to make a high society homophobe feel uncomfortable so I see it as a win-win.”
The man’s eyes travel up and down Iwaizumi’s suit-clad body as he considers the offer. He stands perfectly still, hands hanging loosely in his pockets as he lets the younger man size him up. This is no different than the business world-just another contract negotiation. And Iwaizumi Hajime is now known for keeping his cool even in the most tense negotiations. It’s taken years of practice for him to control the temper that always rides right underneath the surface.
Iwaizumi watches the man’s eyes drift to the side and knows that man has come to a decision but he can’t determine what he’s decided. It’s not often someone can hide their thoughts from him. Facial mannerisms are a dead giveaway but this man is a puzzle.
“I’ve got questions,” the man says, patting the table for Iwaizumi to come join him. He kicks the chair out for Iwaizumi to sit down. Grabbing his coffee, Iwaizumi sits down, deftly unbuttoning his suit jacket as he gets comfortable in the chair.
“I would expect nothing less,” he drawls, eyes never losing contact with the other man’s.
Narrowed eyes stare into his as the man asks, “Who are you? How can you pay that much for one night, and what would I need to wear?”
Smiling because he realizes that he’s won this negotiation, Iwaizumi bows his head politely, introducing himself, “I’m Iwaizumi Hajime, 34. I own the Seijoh Group which is how I can pay for you and it’s formal so you'd need to wear a tux. And who are you?”
He purposefully keeps his answer vague so that this man has to keep dialoguing with him. His hand comes to rest under his chin as the other man begins to speak.
“Oikawa Tooru, 22, college student and I don’t own a tux.”
Seems like Oikawa Tooru is going to play the same game. Interesting for a college student to have this much gumption. He might actually enjoy his night tonight.
Curiously, Iwaizumi motions for Oikawa to stand up. When Iwaizumi correctly guesses his measurements, Oikawa stares again. Rolling his eyes, Iwaizumi smirks, “I own one of the top tech companies in Tokyo, Oikawa. Do you think I am some frumpy office worker?”
A blush prettily covers Oikawa’s cheeks as he mutters, “Obviously not. But things like this just don’t happen to me.”
Deciding to ignore that statement, Iwaizumi pulls out his wallet and slides a business card across the table.
“If you’re saying yes, I’ll have a tux sent to your apartment in two hours and a car will pick you up at 6pm. And Oikawa, I’m not opposed to ‘sex stuff’ but I won’t be paying you for it. You can decide how far you want this to go.”
Brown eyes meet fierce green eyes, openly throwing out the challenge. Iwaizumi already knows he’s got Oikawa hooked and he guessed correctly when he assumed Oikawa was a competitive person.
“I’m in.”
Hook, line and sinker.
“Excellent, give me your phone number and address,” he says, passing Oikawa his phone.
Once the numbers have been inputted, Iwaizumi leans down to kiss Oikawa on the cheek, “Seems like your luck might be changing, Oikawa. See you at 6pm. I’ll be the one in the tux.”
And then he’s gone.
_____________________________________________
Oikawa nervously paces his apartment while his roommates look on with amusement. He’d come home an hour ago in a total panic, rambling about having a date with a billionaire who was paying him 100k yen to be his date for the evening.
“Is this the Oikawa Tooru-escort arc?” Sugawara smirks from his spot on the couch, thoroughly enjoying this show before him. It beat the hell out of grading papers.
Akaashi snorts from the kitchen where he’s preparing tea to calm Oikawa’s nerves. Oikawa glares at both of them, taking the mug handed to him.
“Akaashi is my favorite roommate,” Oikawa snaps, glaring at his best friend who stares back unapologetically.
“Well, he is the prettiest so Oikawa Tooru-escort arc makes sense,” Akaashi drawls, sitting next to Suga on the couch, fist bumping the outstretched fist.
“You are both dead to me.”
Gasping in fake horror, Suga holds a hand to heart, “Oh whatever will I do?”
Akaashi just has a chance to snort when a knock sounds at the door. It takes Oikawa approximately 3.2 seconds to cross the living room and fling the door open. A startled man about Oikawa’s age holds out a suit bag and a shoe box.
“Oikawa-san? Iwaizumi-san asked me to drop this off for you and to tell you that he’ll be here at 6pm to pick you up,” the man says, passing Oikawa the suit bag. Eyes wide at the designer name on the bag, Oikawa looks up at the man.
“Thank you…” he says, pausing to wait for the other man to introduce himself.
“Kindaichi, I’m one of Iwaizumi-san’s assistants,” Kindaichi says, bowing low.
The spiky haired assistant holds out a blue business card, “This is my direct line. Please don’t hesitate to call if you are ever in need of anything.”
Oikawa takes the card wordlessly because Kindaichi said he was ‘one of’ Iwaizumi’s assistants. Just how loaded was this guy?
“Thank you, Kindaichi,” Oikawa replies. The assistant quickly turns and walks down the hallway, looking extremely out of the place in the dingy apartment complex. Apparently, he’s been standing in the doorway for too long because two sets of hands pull him inside.
“Holy shit,” Suga whistles, taking in the designer’s name, “This has to be a custom tailored suit for it to get here this quickly. Open it!”
Akaashi helpfully holds the hanger while Oikawa unzips the bag reverently because this is probably the most expensive thing he will ever own in his entire life. Hell, it’s probably worth more than the rent on their apartment each month.
It’s not what he’s expecting.
Iwaizumi had said “formal” and that he would need a tuxedo. Hands caress the soft material of the jacket.
“Well…” Akaashi says, eyes wide, “you are certainly going to make an impression in that. It’s like he wants you to be Cinderella.”
“It’s perfect,” Oikawa whispers, unzipping the bag all the way. The light blue material is a striking contrast to the white dress shirt and white shoes that accompany the suit.
“Oikawa Tooru-escort- is going to be the belle of the ball. Tooru, I swear to gods, if you don’t go try that on right now, I will put it on myself,” Suga says, shoving Oikawa towards his room, Akaashi carrying the garment bag behind him.
The two roommates patiently wait while Oikawa showers because there is no way he’s taking this suit off once he gets it on. Extra time is taken to make sure his hair has just the right bounce. With a sigh, he puts in his contacts because his cheap glasses are not going to ruin the aesthetic of the evening.
He walks out of the bathroom, clad in only his towel, asking, “What do I wear underneath it?”
Suga sits up from where he was laying on the bed and goes over to rifle through Oikawa’s underwear and sock drawer, snorting at the various pairs of alien boxers he comes across.
Akaashi just says, “Well, as I see it, you have two choices: underwear or no underwear.”
Oikawa almost drops his towel at the suggestive comment, but recovers by saying, “Akaashi Keiji, such foul comments coming from such a sweet person. Suga’s been a bad influence on you.”
“Oh the absolute worst,” Suga agrees, holding two different pairs of underwear, “which one, Tooru?”
Oikawa takes in both pairs-one black boxer brief and one...a little more revealing. He quickly grabs the black boxer briefs, sliding them on underneath his towel. Akaashi has helpfully set the different pieces of the suit on the bed. He starts with the pants which just slide up his leg, the absolute perfect fit, hugging his thighs and hips in just the right place and buckling easily.
Suga lets out a low whistle of appreciation, “Damn, Tooru. You actually look like you have an ass in those.”
Rolling his eyes, Oikawa grabs the dress shirt next. And again, it’s the perfect fit. He leaves the last button undone. Akaashi helps him slide the suit jacket on, the sleeves tapering perfectly at the wrist.
It’s silent in the room for a moment before Akaashi and Suga break into laughter.
“What are you laughing at?” Oikawa demands, hands on hips, unable to tear his eyes away from his reflection in the mirror.
“I’m sorry, Tooru, it’s just that you look like a college kid playing dress up,” Suga says, while Akaashi nods. Oikawa’s face falls and Suga’s quick to recover, “You said he was picking you up at 6pm? That gives us an hour and a half to teach you some swagger.”
____________________________________________________________
Iwaizumi pulls up outside the apartment complex at exactly 5:55pm. In his mind, being on time means you’re late so he is always early to appointments. His Acura NSX stands out like a sore thumb in this neighborhood but he’d wanted to be the one to pick Oikawa up tonight. Most of his dates arrived at events by chauffeured car but as soon as he’d found the suit for Oikawa, he knew he wanted to be the first one to see the man in it.
A knock on his window startles him. A silver haired person is staring in the window directly at him so Iwaizumi rolls down the window.
“Hello, can I help you?” he asks.
The silver haired man smiles a lethal (and slightly terrifying) smile, “Hello Iwaizumi-san, my name is Sugawara and I am Oikawa’s best friend. I don’t know what kind of weirdo you are, having to pay for a date like this but if you hurt him in any way, I will gut you organ by organ and no one will ever find your body. Understood?”
He just nods and makes a note to look into this guy because he could use him on his negotiations team.
“I promise, Sugawara, that I have no intention of hurting Oikawa or even seeing him again after tonight.”
Suga nods and taps the window frame lightly, “I’m glad we understand each other. I was also serving as a distraction. Your date is over there.”
Suga points to the steps of the apartment where Oikawa has just emerged and Iwaizumi feels his chin drop because fucking hell-Oikawa is stunning. The cheap lights on the outside of the building hit Oikawa at just the right angle, making him look positively ethereal. His date saunters over to the car and Iwaizumi quickly opens his door, nearly knocking over a laughing Sugawara, in his rush to open the door for Oikawa.
“Fuck, you’re perfect,” is the greeting that slips out of his mouth instead of a normal hello.
Tilting his head, Oikawa looks him up and down, before saying, “You don’t look so bad yourself, Iwaizumi Hajime.”
He slides past Iwaizumi to get into the car and Iwaizumi inhales the spicy scent of his cologne. Breathing it in, he commits the smell to memory because it is going to haunt his dreams for a long time, especially when he says goodbye to Oikawa forever at the end of the night.
A small chuckle brings him back to the present as Oikawa looks up at him from the passenger seat, saying, “I’m all buckled in, Iwaizumi. You can close the door now.”
Sugawara is now leaning against the lamppost from laughing so hard at Iwaizumi. Ignoring the best friend, Iwaizumi gets back into his car and with a wave to Suga, they are off.
Oikawa looks around the car, hating to admit he’s impressed so he just says, “Nice car. But I thought a car service was picking me up tonight?”
Iwaizumi looks out of the corner of his eye and says, “I found some extra time so I decided to come pick you up myself.”
Nodding Oikawa continues, “So Iwaizumi Hajime-”
“Are you going to say my name like that all night, Oikawa Tooru?” he interrupts, a small grimace on his face.
“Well,” Oikawa replies, “It’s Iwaizumi Hajime or Iwa-chan. You decide.”
“Iwaizumi Hajime, please don’t give me a fucking nickname.”
Oikawa grins like it’s his lucky day and Iwaizumi realizes he fell right into the trap. He’s going to be stuck with this nickname the whole night. Damn it.
“Iwa-chan, there’s no need to deny our magnetic attraction. *Sigh*, just admit that you wanted to see how hot I looked in this suit. Thank you by the way,” Oikawa smiles, running a hand over the lapel, “I think it’s the nicest thing I’ve ever owned.”
“Oh uh,” Iwaizumi replies, “it’s yours so don’t worry about giving it back. I had my tailor make all the correct adjustments.”
Making an agreeing noise, Oikawa turns to look out the window as they drive through Tokyo. Iwaizumi gets a chance to look at his profile and realizes he’d underestimated Oikawa’s beauty in the coffee shop. He’s all sharp angles and long limbs with a classic elegance. But so very young. Iwaizumi is going to need to remind himself of that as the night goes on.
“Iwa-chan?”
“Tooru?”
Copper eyes widen and fly over to meet his smirk. Two can play at that game.
Unswayed, Oikawa wrings his fingers together as he asks, “What am I posing as tonight?”
Posing as? It takes a minute for Iwaizumi to realize what he’s talking about.
“Oh shit, you’re just my date, Oikawa.”
“But what does it mean to be your date?”
Iwaizumi has never really had to think about it before because his dates usually understand that assignment but Oikawa is different. Oikawa is a normal college student, not someone in his world. He might need to know.
“I guess it means that you’ll stay by my side tonight, I’ll introduce you to my co-workers and some enemies who may try to intimidate you but it’s not like we have to say we are dating, engaged, or married. You are just the man I’m dating. Are you okay with that?”
Iwaizumi realizes that he never asked if Oikawa was interested in men, which was a failure on his part.
“Iwa-chan, are you internally panicking right now because you’re unsure if I'm interested in men?” Oikawa smirks at him and Iwaizumi is once again a bit stunned at how quickly Oikawa was able to read him.
Oikawa pats his hand and smiles condescendingly at him, “Don’t worry, Iwa-chan. I’m very into men.”
“Me too.”
Oikawa looks at him and laughs again. It’s becoming a habit of him saying something stupid and Oikawa laughing at him but thankfully, he decides not to comment further. Within minutes, they arrive at their destination and Oikawa’s eyes go comically wide at the line of photographers waiting for them. Iwaizumi puts the car in park before turning to Oikawa.
Scared eyes meet his. Fuck, this was such a mistake. But he’s here and he needs Oikawa tonight. His hand reaches up to cup Oikawa’s cheek, turning his eyes away from the press to meet his.
“Tooru, I need you to listen to me. I’ve got you. We just need to go take a few pictures and then we’ll be inside. You can do this. Hold onto my arm and don’t let go. I’m going to get out to come around to your door. Take a deep breath.”
Oikawa is breathing in time to his words and Iwaizumi can feel the tension leaving the car. He closes his eyes, breathes in, breathes out and plasters smile on his face.
“Let’s give them something to talk about, Iwa-chan.”