buenos aires was beautiful.

the city definitely had european influence but the culture was predominantly latin american. it was obviously very different from tokyo and y/n was mentally counting the stark contrasts as she got off at the airport.

her job was to stay here for nearly half the duration of the argentinian volleyball league and the entirety of copa argentina- a professional football league.

in her time here, she would have to travel to different cities as per the match venues. but she was beginning in buenos aires because that was where the agency's main office was situated.

she was supposed to meet her newly appointed boss as soon as she landed so she was in a cab, heading over there.

she was so stressed about seeing oikawa that she forgot to be excited about landing a job abroad. it was only fully hitting her now that she was actually so far from japan.

her accommodation had been paid for by her employer. she also had company credit that she could use as she pleased. it did not seem so bad at all.

the office building was slightly bigger than the one back in tokyo, but had more or less the same kind of architecture.

thankfully language hadn't been a barrier so far. she had tried learning a few basic spanish phrases on the flight but had failed in remembering any.

the argentine volleyball league was to commence in about a week, as was evident from the promotional posters everywhere in the building.

"hi, i'm here to see axel diaz. i'm your japanese transfer", she said to the receptionist who smiled and nodded.

"we've been expecting you, miss iwaizumi", she informed, "follow me"

when the door opened and she was face to face with her new boss, her jaw fell.

this man was pretty but not oikawa-level pretty. he was definitely much older than her but he was subtle about it. his hair was well kept, with faint wrinkles along his face and a surprisingly lean and well built figure.

"hi", he waved, "i'm axel"

"y/n iwaizumi", she introduced

"i know", he smiled, "come on in"

axel gave her a lot of instructions. he told her their first order of business and the clients that they had to scout and get back.

she listened attentively, nodding along to everything he said with the occasional "okay" and "got it".

and then he got to the fucking point.

"your boss told us you can help us sign oikawa tooru", axel's eyes were gleaming with interest, "how do you plan to do that?"

"don't worry about that", she said plainly, refusing to acknowledge the fact that her heart reacted to his name.

"okay i guess i'm just gonna have to trust you", he said, raising his eyebrows, "but i want results, 'kay?"

she nodded.

"good", he grinned, "you'll come with two other agents and me to tomorrow's football game, friday's derby and most importantly, the volleyball league's opening game on sunday."

"okay"

-•-•-•-

the nice old HR lady helped y/n find her apartment and settle in. 

it was pretty average and it came furnished. but she realised she needed a lot of things.

she needed groceries, for starters. or at least, she needed to find a place where she could eat tonight.

starting from tomorrow, she'd either be eating at the office because of late hours or she'd be eating outside when she went to sports events.

she needed to unpack too but she'd probably do that gradually because she was too tired and too jet lagged to do it all right now.

she eventually found a small, modest pizza place a little distance from her apartment building that would provide her with good food.

when she walked in, she was greeted by a woman who led her to a small corner table that seated two.

everyone was here with friends and with family and enemies and frenemies maybe. but at least they weren't alone.

she was so bored. all she was doing was making up stories about groups of people in her head as she ate good food.

like that blonde who looked like she's telling the guy opposite her that he accidentally knocked her up.

like that redhead who seemed pissed off as she confronted a similar looking, older woman about being a shitty parent.

like that bald guy who looked tense about absolutely nothing. he could've just committed a murder for all she knew.

like that brunette who... like that brunette on the TV that was playing over the sound of people that weren't interested in anything but their own conversation.

oikawa was on tv. oikawa was in a commercial. oikawa was smiling his annoying smile and promoting some godforsaken deodorant.

"oh my god my love is here", a girl about her age on the table adjacent to hers, pointed at the TV before clutching her hand to her chest. she had clearly had a little too much to drink as was visible from her lazy smile.

"yes, yes we know", her friends murmured, "oikawa tooru is fucking fine"

y/n looked at the girls and then back at the TV.

they recognised him. they recognised tooru.

and it was not supposed to be surprising to her because she knew he was famous here.

but it was one thing to hear about his achievements and his growing fame. and another thing entirely to witness it firsthand.

it felt surreal that she walked into a random restaurant and people recognised oikawa tooru.

no matter what terms she was on with him, no matter how hurt she was by him, she felt this sense of profound joy. she felt warm and fuzzy inside. she smiled.

"gorgeous, isn't he?", one of the girls on the other table found her staring at oikawa and questioned with a tipsy smile.

she chuckled, nodding along, "he really is"

"do you love oikawa tooru too?", another girl questioned and gasped like she'd made the discovery of the century.

y/n smiled sadly, looking back at the screen.

"i really do"

-•-•-•-

oikawa was not nervous for the opening game of the argentine league. he was indifferent or maybe the slightest bit confident.

his team were the reigning champions so everyone was relaxed and even a bit excited.

iwa had called him a day after his little meltdown and things suddenly felt normal again. but for some reason, he kept asking him if everything was okay which was not something his best friend did often.

oikawa concluded that his mom might've said something to hajime.

or maybe he'd been reading into all of it after all. his friends weren't avoiding him, they simply had their own lives too.

he pushed out all thoughts from his brain so that he could focus. well, all thoughts except those involving y/n. she was allowed to stay.

he couldn't deny the enjoyment he felt when he walked into the positively packed stadium, waving to the crowd that chanted his name.

he was so ready.

-•-•-•-

"how do you know oikawa again?", axel questioned, turning to y/n who looked dazed.

he was here. tooru was here in the flesh. and it had been five years since she saw a match of his in person. she'd forgotten how mesmerising it was.

"we... went to school together", y/n did not want to overshare with her boss of all people.

"what high school did you go to?", she would've thought it was a weird question, except it was asked to her in japanese.

there is a sense of comfort that you tend to feel when you hear someone speak your native language in a foreign country. and she felt that comfort immediately as she turned around.

the source of the voice was a few seats away from her. a woman who looked about her age, with long dark brown hair and pretty grey eyes.

"thank god you're japanese", the woman continued, breathing a sigh of relief.

she nodded and smiled before replying, "i went to aoba johsai. it's in miyagi."

the woman raised her eyebrows, "how come i never saw your team at nationals with someone like oikawa tooru playing?"

y/n frowned even though the question did not come from a bad place.

"because shiratorizawa", she shrugged and the woman seemed to understand because she nodded and laughed.

"fair enough"

y/n's boss was actually surprised by how quickly her mood changed when she was talking to the woman. he couldn't understand the conversation of course, but she seemed to be enjoying it.

"what school did you go to?", y/n asked

"inarizaki"

"miya twins", y/n pointed out and she nodded a little uneasily.

"yes, they were my classmates", she said but y/n had a feeling that was not all.

"i'm iwaizumi y/n", she extended her hand and the woman shook it.

"i'm akamine midori"

-•-•-•-

oikawa was having a good day.

the team was in good form, no one was being careless and very minimal points were lost to avoidable errors.

they'd nearly won the first set when it was his turn to serve. he stared at the ball in his hands as he took position. he glanced at the audience just before the whistle.

and then he suddenly froze up.

it was meant to be a glance but suddenly, he saw... he thought he saw...

it was impossible. the girl he loved logically couldn't be here right now because she was supposed to be 18,351km away in the capital city of japan.

he only caught a glimpse of her and then some fans stood up and cheered for him as he served. and then she was gone. it was hard to differentiate one from the other in the packed stadium.

maybe he had finally gone insane.

the whistle caused him to look startled but he took only a couple of seconds to reset, waving off what he'd seen as nothing more than a hallucination.

the serve was satisfactory and he could've definitely done better but he made up for it and they ended up getting the first set anyway.

he apologised for the serve but his coach let him off easy because he knew that oikawa's biggest critic was oikawa.

they ended up winning. and it was a good win.

and all oikawa could think about was her.

-•-•-•-

"are you gonna talk to him?", axel questioned as they walked out of the game.

"not today", she shook her head, "but i'll get it done"

he only nodded and his phone buzzed for like the 57th time that night.

"sorry, that's just...", he rolled his eyes with disdain, "my wife"

oh, axel had a wife. axel did not have a wedding ring. axel was 99% an asshole.

"hey", y/n felt a tap on her arm and it was akamine midori, "are you busy after this?"

she shook her head. "where are we going?"

-•-•-•-

"and then i thought i saw her in the audience", tooru explained to iwa who was barely awake because they were several time zones apart.

"mhmmm", iwa yawned, only just now registering that oikawa saw her because she was actually there.

"and i think i'm going crazy", oikawa explained

"mmkay listen... wait let me call you in a minute", iwa said in his dull voice.

"hello?", y/n picked up her phone, head aching from a good night out, "oh hey haji-"

"for fuck's sake, go see oikawa before he gets himself committed"

"committed as in... relationship?"

"committed as in asylum"

˜"*°•.˜"*°•.•°*"˜.•°*"˜

vote if you liked the chapter <3

akamine my beloved is here<3(mr perfectly fine readers ignore)

axel is a morally grey dilf <3