Page 15

The briefing lasted only 20 minutes, and the students are grouped based on their majors, and assigned staff to take them on the tour. There are a few friends of Oikawa who have joined the same university, and it seemed like he got the hint from when you had pinched his arm after he called you his girlfriend. So instead, he simply says your name, if anyone asks, and you feel thankful and decide not to call him a fruitcake in your head for a while.

"Masumi, look at that!" Oikawa's tone is excited as he points at something at the left. You turn your gaze to where he is pointing at, and see that there is a small fountain there, standing proudly with the five small nozzles that poured water.

"It lights up at night, a golden color." The man assigned as the staff says, and Oikawa's eyes gleam as he turns to face you, then to the man. He then looks at the name tag to the staff, before he addresses him.

"Kanzou-sensei, is it fine for me to go take a picture there with her?" He wants to know, pointing at you.

You are squeezing Oikawa's arm in embarrassment when the staff nods, and some of the boys are giggling when he drags you towards the phone and pulls his phone out. You feel a little less like you would explode when some more of the students follow the two of you, posing in different places and getting shots with the fountain. Not wanting an ugly picture which Oikawa can politely use against you for the rest of your life, you smile for the camera, and he gasps after he takes the shot.

"Why don't you ever smile like this when I do something?" He wants to know, a question you ignore when you head back to where the rest of the group stood, gawking at the fountain in awe... While some girls were clearly having their eyes set on a certain volleyball player who is standing beside you. You called it, when you hear a squeaky voice mumble Oikawa's name from behind you.

The two of you turn around to see a girl with long black hair, a sincere smile, and reddened cheeks. "Hello, Oikawa-kun, I'm a fan of yours." She says, introducing herself, Oikawa gives a quick glance at you before he turns to he girl in amusement.

"Thank you. I'll try not to let you down." He said, and the staff begins to walk ahead. Oikawa's hand slip into yours once again, and you look up to the taller boy's profile as you walked alongside him.

"Are you going to continue playing volleyball, even in college?" You ask, and he gives a nod.

"Even if I become the best player in the world, I'm still going to keep on playing." The unwavering resolve he has makes you smile a little, and you give his hand a small squeeze. From the corner of your eyes, you can see Oikawa's wide eyes as he looks down at your hand in utter shock.

The university was well constructed, and even the dorms look lively and well-lived in. Oikawa didn't have to suggest you to join this university when you finished high school, because you had already made up your mind, along with the information you had received from the workshop earlier.

You didn't realize how much fun you were having out with Oikawa, and you didn't even realize how late it was until you stepped out of the university and found the entire surrounding dark. "How long have we been in there, oh my god."

Oikawa takes a look at his wristwatch, before he pulls on your arm a little. "Not enough. We still need to do everything a couple does on Christmas Eve." He responds, pointing at well-lit lights all round. There were hundreds of people all around you, and even more couples, who walked hand in hand, and you didn't feel as awkward to let Oikawa pull you along to a mall nearby, since everybody was doing that as well. "I wish we can do something like this on my birthday." He mumbles under his breath while he sits on a seat at the nearby food court. You slowly sit on the seat in front of him, and he continues, "But I'm gonna be like, in my dorm, on my birthday next year."

You knew that, and it still made you a little sad whenever you thought about him moving. There were a couple more months for him to annoy the hell out of you, but... How you would get over an irritating Oikawa first thing in the morning was something you had no idea of. "It isn't until like a long while."

"You're right... And wrong at the same time."

"What do you mean?" You ask.

Oikawa is about to answer before the waitress walks up to you. The setter pauses to give his order, asking you what you would like before he points to it on the menu. He is silent until the waitress leaves, before he turns to you and puts his hands on the table. "There is a long time till my birthday." He begins. "But when I'm with you, time goes by so fast. Even today... We've been together for hours but I didn't even notice how long we had been."

You look at his eyes, dumbfounded that he exactly thought the same thing you'd been thinking just a while ago.

"I can't be the only person who feels this way, am I?"

'God damn it', his chocolate brown eyes make your heart race a little while you bite your lower lip and nod a little. You knew that he was aware of how you felt about him, and you didn't want him to move out of the apartment feeling like he didn't.

"You aren't the only one."

It was only five words, but you had never seen the boy smile wider before. He returned back to his overly-excited mode, trying to offer you some of his french fries even though you had your own. After eating, the two of you walked to a couple stores, where you looked around a little and even Oikawa seemed a little keen on some of the sportswear they had to offer.

"Look, this one would look good on you." He says, pointing at a long pair of sweatpants, a loose one made out of some kind of material that felt like heaven just to touch.

"Have you bought Christmas presents for everyone yet, Masumi?"

"I've got them for most of them, but I'll just give them all out on New Years. I can save more if I get one present for both occasions." You said, and Oikawa laughs, amused at your response. You then watch the way he debates about getting clothes or food for his parents as a present. In the end, he decides on going with food, and he lets you know that he would be out to visit them tomorrow.

"I'd take you with me, if you would just say that you love me." He said. You can feel the tips of your ears reddening, and you hurry to where the hats are at, putting one over your head to hide it. "This one is better." Oikawa points to a black, knitted hat, taking it off and putting it over your head. "It comes as pairs!" You roll your eyes when he puts on a matching one and the two of you exchange a small laugh as you looked at each other in the mirror.

Pulling the hat off from his head, you head to the cash register. "Hello, I'd like to buy this."

Oikawa walks up to where you stood after you had paid for it, and when you put it back on his head, his eyes go wide. "Did you just..."

"It's your Christmas present. Let's go."

"But you-"

"Let's go."

You knew that he would make a fuss inside the store, and you were right. As soon as he steps outside, he begins to laugh loudly, and a few people look at you both as if you were insane.

"You stupid fruitcake, stop laughing."

"Fruitcake? How do you even find these insults?"

"Because all the insults I know aren't enough to address you."

He bites his bottom lip at your response, bursting into another big smile as he walks ahead. "Nothing you say will make me less happy. 'You' got me a Christmas present. 'Masumi-chan got me a christmas present.' "

"Shut up, we need to head back home. It's late."

Oikawa has a big goofy grin on his face during the entire ride home. There is silence between the two of you as you walked, but even through the cold wintery night of Christmas Eve, your hand feels warm in his grip, his tight grip which he doesn't loosen until he reaches the door of his apartment.

And then, he turns to face you, a hand reaching into his pocket. "Thank you for today. I had a good time." He says, pulling something out. Whatever it was, it is too small, enough for him to hide it inside his palm. The next thing you know, he puts a hand on your cheeks, leaning in slowly and placing a soft kiss on your lips.

After your heart stops racing like insane, you open your eyes, and see a goofy-smiled Oikawa - who has his right hand lifted up.

"What on Earth are you doi- Oh..."

There is a plastic mistletoe in his hand, and he is holding it over both your heads.

"I didn't want people to see us kissing under the mistletoe at the mall, so I brought one here."

"Oh."

"Is that all you're going to say?" He asks, and you see that his arm hasn't budged, still holding the mistletoe intact.

You were never good with words. You were never good with dealing with Oikawa, and you were never good at feelings either. But there Oikawa stood, accepting whatever you were, and for one second, for once in your life, you felt like you did the right thing, standing on your tiptoes a little and kissing his cheek a little.

You didn't wait for a reaction, racing upstairs and closing your door. Oikawa didn't seem to have run upstairs either, to try to stop you. Instead, there's a text waiting for you five minutes later, one that makes you smile so hard that even Mei looks a little sick to her stomach.

"Don't do things like that, I'm going to be thinking about it for the entire week, I swear to god."