"Tooru?"

"Mm?"

"Is everything alright?"

Oikawa paused the game on his phone, and thought momentarily about his answer before replying.

"Everything's fine."

"Really?"

He resumed his game. "Yup," he said, popping the last letter. "Why?"

"You're my son, Tooru. Of course I'm going to worry about you," said Mr. Mori.

Oikawa glanced up at the man. That's definitely a lie, he thought. Maybe he should check Mrs. Mori's wrists later.

Then again, he rather drown than talk to the witch out of his freewill.

"Like I said, everything's fine. You don't have to worry about me, Mr. Mori."

"Right. And how's that friend of yours? The one you're bringing to the Gala this weekend?"

Oikawa let out a grunt as he died in his game. "I asked him, and he said he was busy," he lied. Sorry Iwa-chan. "But he's doing fine, I think."

"Really?" asked Mr. Mori. "That's too bad. Are you going to ask anyone else?"

"Hm. Probably not," he replied.

"Let me know if you change your mind," said Mr. Mori. "By the way, I actually ran into your friend. Iwaizumi Hajime is his name, correct?"

He snapped his head up. "You met him?"

Mr. Mori nodded. "He seems like a very kind person. He was working at a restaurant. Accidentally spilled coffee on me."

Oikawa choked on his saliva. He then finally noticed the large stain on the man's usually pristine suit. "He spilled coffee on you?!"

Suddenly, he was very interested in having a conversation with his adoptive father.

"Unfortunately yes," sighed the man. "I was exiting the stage and he appeared to be there at the bottom of the steps, holding a cup of coffee for me. The crowd ended up jostling him, and the drink flew all over me."

Oikawa held in his laughter. "What happened then?"

Mr. Mori sighed again, sitting down on the couch opposite of Oikawa. "I actually felt bad for the kid; the crowd turned on him, and my men had to escort him back to his workplace."

Poor you, Iwa-chan, he thought. "But how'd you know his name? And that he was my friend?"

"We ended up talking for a bit in the restaurant. I mentioned that he looked familiar and asked if you two were friends."

He raised his eyebrows. "He looked familiar to you?"

"Your mom mentioned that your friend came here when you were sick last week, so I ended up checking the security footage, and there he was. I never thought–"

Mr. Mori stopped talking when he noticed how tense Oikawa was.

The man froze, quickly trying to think back to what he did wrong, where it went wrong, and—

"Goodness, I'm sorry, Tooru. I know you're not comfortable with us anymore, and that you're touchy about titles but–"

"Stop talking," he gasped out. Please.

Mr. Mori sighed exasperatedly, rubbing his temple. "Does it bother you that much when I call Hana your mom?"

Oikawa looked up, staring his adoptive father straight in the eye. His heart was already thundering at the slight mention of the witch.

Fuck.

"In fact," he said as calmly as he could, "it does bother me. Mrs. Mori is not my mother. Never will be."

"Can't you give her another chance?" pleaded the man. "We're both trying to change, but you won't let us–"

"I'm not letting you?" He cried, forgetting all sense of calmness. "The only reason why you're trying to change is because your election is coming up. You want to eliminate any chance of me talking to reporters because heaven forbids everyone knowing that the Mori's are abusing their adopted son!"

"We are not abusing you, Tooru." said Mr. Mori through gritted teeth. "We both care for you greatly."

Oikawa pushed back his bangs, revealing a large scab from where the glass had cut him a week ago. "Yeah, Mrs. Mori cares enough to throw a wine glass at my face!" He screamed. "Not to mention, you knew about all of the bruises and everything, but didn't do shit. How could I ever think you two care about me?"

Mr. Mori opened his mouth but closed it after a moment. There was nothing he could say now. Except—

"I'm sorry, Tooru." The man whispered.

Oikawa scoffed. "I don't want your apologies."

•

Iwaizumi is so embarrassed.

So embarrassed that he could die now, and thank whoever killed him.

Why did he spill that drink?

And why did it have to be Shittykawa's dad?

What the hell is his luck?

First, Shittykawa starts avoiding him again, and then he pretends to be dating Terushima. What kind of stunt is that?

Second, he decides to throw oil on the fire and tell Crappykawa to leave, when he didn't even want that!

I hate myself, he thought.

And third, he spills coffee on Oikawa's dad, who is a fucking politician. A very important one, he might add.

God, he could just pass away now!

Why am I like this?

Gosh, okay happy thoughts. Think happy thoughts.

His brain didn't listen as he suddenly thought of Oikawa's crestfallen face when he told the brunette to leave. His heart ached.

He rather deal with the embarrassment than the pain, so he replayed the memory from earlier to distract himself.

It was right after school when he made way towards his part time job. He worked at a small restaurant in the local mall as a waiter. It was an ordinary day; serving customers, wiping tables, delivering food.

Except right outside the restaurant, a rally was being held. Through the windows, Iwaizumi could make out a large crowd of people swarming around a small stage where some important person was making a speech.

He never would have thought that the "some important person" was Shittykawa's dad.

His boss, a nice lady in her late forties, told him to go deliver a coffee. He absentmindedly agreed and grabbed a tray to set the coffee on.

As he walked out of the restaurant, he could hear the loud cheers of people as the man finished his speech.

Must be some important guy, he thought.

Making way closer to the stage, he pushed past onlookers until he was near the steps of the stage. He stood and watched the man give one final wave before exiting.

He tried to appear casual as guards gave him suspicious looks. When the important man finally made it halfway down the steps, he rushed forward to offer the restaurant's coffee.

Bad move.

He didn't know that a swarm of people had gathered behind him and were even more eager to meet the important man. They pushed him as he shouted at them to stop.

Too late.

His stupid foot got caught on the leg of someone else's and he tripped, his body jerking forward, causing the coffee cup on the tray to fly forward also.

And right into that very important man.

He cringed as he thought about it.

After a lot of apologies and some very angry words from the crowd, the man's security guards escorted him back to the restaurant.

His boss instantly appeared, a worried expression on her face. "My goodness, what happened?"

"Your employee spilled a drink on Mr. Mori," one of the guards answered. "Luckily, he won't sue."

Is that a good reason to sue?! wondered a dazed Iwaizumi.

"We offer our most sincere apologies!" cried his boss. "I'll give him a good punishment, I promise!"

The guards grunted and left.

His boss crossed her arms over her chest. He was too ashamed to look her in the eye.

"I won't say anything," she said. "But I think you need a minute to collect yourself. Go to the bathroom."

He nodded and walked with his head down to the restroom.

I hate myself.

He turned on the faucet and splashed cold water onto his face.

So much.

He splashed some more water on his face, again and again like he could drown himself in a small bathroom sink.

Why am I like this?

Iwaizumi was so submerged in his thoughts that he didn't hear the bathroom door open.

"Are you alright?"

He flinched in surprise, and flinched again when he saw it was the important man he spilled coffee on.

Instantly, he bowed his head, feeling his cheeks heat up. "I'm so sorry, sir!"

"Don't worry about it, kid. Things happen. Luckily, I'm going home after this so no worries," joked the man.

Iwaizumi nodded slowly, too embarrassed to look the man in his eyes.

"Are you by any chance Tooru's friend? You look a bit familiar."

He snapped his head up. "You know me?"

"You came by last week when he was sick, I think. Hana mentioned you, and I was curious."

He tilted his head. Who is this guy? Hana? And how does he know Oikawa?

"I'm Tooru's father, by the way," said the man, as if reading his mind. "You can call me Mr. Mori."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Mori," he said, bowing his head again. Holy shit! It's Shittykawa's dad! "I'm Iwaizumi Hajime."

"It's a pleasure, Hajime. You can relax a bit," laughed the man. "How is Tooru? I rarely get a chance to speak with him because I'm so busy."

Iwaizumi scratched his head. Honestly, he didn't know himself. "I think he's doing okay. I haven't been able to get a good conversation in either."

"Ah. Sometimes Tooru gets into phases where he won't speak to anyone. It's become almost natural over the years."

Tell me about it, he thought sarcastically. "It happens a little more often than I would like."

Mr. Mori lets out a laugh. "Right? And usually there's no apparent reason for it. I can't say I'm speaking from personal experience, but it drives my wife crazy."

Iwaizumi laughed nervously. It felt wrong to talk about Oikawa. At least in the way Mr. Mori was saying it.

"By the way, will you be attending the Gala this weekend? I've been meaning to ask Tooru about it, but I haven't had the chance. Who knew I would meet you here!"

"Gala?"

"Yes yes, the Gala! Are you coming with us?"

He smiled awkwardly. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

Mr. Mori frowned. "Tooru didn't tell you?"

He shook his head.

"Well. Hmm," the man scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Honestly if I left it up to Tooru, I'm not sure if anything will ever get done." Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. "Take this."

Iwaizumi took the paper in his hands and read over the front. It was a fancy invite to something. An important dance, if he had to guess by the Gala name.

"Why are you giving this to me?" He asked.

There seemed to be a sparkle in Mr. Mori's eyes as he spoke. "In the years that I've known Tooru, he's never talked about his friends. Hell, I didn't know if he even had any. But then he brought your name up one night, and I thought, 'This boy must be special if Tooru's interested,' so I told him to give you the ticket. Obviously, he hasn't done that yet, so I'm giving it to you now."

Iwaizumi didn't know what to say. Luckily, Mr. Mori kept talking.

"He's a bit difficult at times, but his heart is in the right place. Give him a chance."

Iwaizumi could only nod.

"I have to get going. Take care of yourself, Hajime. I hope to see you at the Gala. My number is written on the back, please call me if you need anything."

And with that, Oikawa's dad left the bathroom. Leaving Iwaizumi alone with the ticket in his hand.

As he's lying down in his bed now, the Gala ticket tucked away in a drawer in his desk, his mind wanders back to Oikawa.

I should probably tell him soon, he thought.

•

HEY! How's it going? 😼
I started school recently so my schedule has been pretty packed. I'm not sure if I'll ever get a solid uploading schedule, but I will try!

A longer chap since the last one was so short. I'm still trying to figure out the ending; mainly trying to decide whether it should end happily or

What's your opinion(s) on the Mori's? I'm still trying to decide if I like them or not 🤔

Andddd that's all for my note! See y'all next time ✨