Although you wanted to sort things out right away, it wasn't really the best time for you to start sorting out your thoughts when you had exams right around the corner.

Currently, you and Oikawa had opted to go study at a local library the week before exams rather than continuing the usual after club practice. But although both of you guys had started out strong and were quite diligent in your studies, it soon fizzled out and Oikawa had lost interest first resulting in you falling to the same fate.

To rephrase, Oikawa did a very good job in making you lose your focus.

It starts out harmless as Oikawa lets out a loud sigh and leans back in his seat. Then it progressively gets worse as he starts tapping his pencil obnoxiously to get your attention but it only makes you stare even harder at your books.

Soon the tapping quiets down and you hear him scribbling in his notebook, making you assume that he went back to work because you weren't playing along with him.

However, when you hear him rip a piece of paper and subtly slide it over your papers, you let out a chuckle despite how serious you wanted to be at that moment. It was such a poorly drawn scribble he had made on the spot where he seemed to have drawn a reindeer which was apparently Rudolph from his use of his red pen for the nose.

Shaking your head, you finally turn your attention to him, seeing his face light up as you do so. "...I guess it's time to pack up?" You raise your brow at him as he beams at your suggestion.

"You said it, not me~" He hums, packing his stuff faster than he had spread it out to study.

You roll your eyes and pack up as well, but not before waving Oikawa's scribble at him. "I put the blame on this."

Oikawa pouts at your poke at his drawing. "I worked hard on that!" His pout doesn't last long as it's replaced by a thoughtful expression, resting his elbows on the table as he leaned over it. "But you could teach me how to draw a better one?"

The look on his face spelled trouble but you were tired from your study session and just went with whatever he had planned. "Hah...Then come sit beside me and I'll help you draw a reindeer before we head home."

He sends you a cheeky grin as he immediately makes his way beside you excitedly, plopping down on the seat next to you. Oikawa looks at you expectantly as you carefully rip out a page from your notebook and place it on the table between the two of you.

Placing your own pencil tip on the page, you start to draw the head. "So you start it like...this." You eye him to make sure he pays attention before you start drawing. To your surprise, Oikawa focuses on it intently, his finger trying to copy your movements on the table.

Once you finish, you turn your attention back to Oikawa who continues to give it a hard stare before he copies how you drew it with his pencil and successfully draws it similar to his first scribble.

"Eh~ This...doesn't look right..." Oikawa trails off, staring at the head of the reindeer. His eye darts from your doodle to his before it widens when you place your smaller hand over his. Oikawa's head snaps towards you but you're focused on the paper between you two.

Your brows scrunch when you noticed him starting to falter and you carefully start a new doodle on the page. "Lets try with another method then." With your hand placed over his, it was harder to grasp where the pencil was but Oikawa kept it steady.

Soon, both of you guys have finished the doodle and you promptly remove your hand from his and grin at him. "I'll let you add the finishing touch!" You urge him to take the red pen when he stares at you with a blank expression.

"...Ah, thanks!" He perks up and takes the pen, adding the red spot on the reindeer's nose. Once he does so, he leans back and admires the work that both of you did.

Turning away from the doodle, he shoots you a wink. "Teamwork, right?"

You roll your eyes and nod. "For sure."

As you pack up the rest of your supplies and Oikawa goes back to get his bag, you speak again. "You're always teaching me how to play volleyball so well so I hope the way I taught you was understandable..." You walk up to him once you get your stuff together and send him a sheepish smile.

It's silent for a while as he gives you another blank stare until you feel his hand ruffle your hair which was accompanied by his amused voice. "I got to say I'm a fan of your teaching style~" Looking up from his hand, he grins as he waves the fresh doodle by his face. "Only if it's reserved for me of course! Plus, I just keep getting gifts from you so it's a nice trade off~"

You chuckle and stand from your seat. "Other than the doodle, I'm not sure what else I've given you..." You ponder in thought. "Actually, haven't you given me more gifts? You'd treat me for cake at the cafe and..."

He'd be there for you in your highs and lows.

Blinking, your thoughts startle you. "...Lots of things!" You look away from him and laugh somewhat awkwardly, annoyed that your thoughts have been more in your face these days.

Oikawa gives you a look before he wraps his arm around your shoulders. "I think you're forgetting how you threw me a surprise party?" He squeezes your shoulder to remind you even further. "And you also gave me..." Oikawa's voice trails off for a moment. "...Lots of things!" His voice raises a couple notches, successfully making you glance at him quizzically soon after.

"Well, take good care of whatever I gave you." You couldn't hide the amused tone in your voice as you noticed Oikawa shaken up from whatever he was thinking about.

"Of course I will! It's from you~" He gives you a relieved smile for not asking for an elaboration, reaching his hand to pat your head. "And same to you!"

You only laugh at his well-executed wink and peace sign combination and shake your head.

"Oh!" Oikawa suddenly calls out, making you jump a little. "Can we stop by somewhere before we head home? I promise it'll be quick!"

You raise your brow at his sudden proposition but sigh in agreement if not for the excited expression on his face.

Oikawa brightens at your response and turns both of you guys in a different direction, slipping his hand off your shoulder and taking your hand, tugging you with him. "You won't regret it~"

You're startled at his bold move when he once again laces his fingers with yours. Looking at him, you notice his focus is trained elsewhere, trying to figure out where to go. You sigh and let him lead the way, silently mulling on the feeling you got the longer the two of you guys held hands.

~~

"Wait for me here!" Oikawa ushers you to a wooden bench and waits for you to sit down before he continues. "Okay, I'll be right back!"

Before you could get a word out yourself, he runs off to get whatever he came for.

Sighing on the bench, you place your bag beside you, rolling your shoulders from the strain it felt from carrying all your books. You look at your watch before you pull out your sketchbook and pencil, starting to doodle as you waited.

"Oh, hey [Surname]-chan!"

Looking up from your sketchbook, you notice that Tadashi has stopped in front of you, shooting you his usual friendly smile. "Tadashi-kun, what brings you here?"

Tadashi holds up a plastic bag from his side to indicate he had to run some errands. "Just picking up some groceries. And you?" His eyes are curious as he sees you sketching in a less than ideal spot.

"Just waiting for Tōru-kun," you answer, shrugging at Tadashi. "No idea what he's up to though."

Tadashi laughs, "as usual, right? But..." He gives you a thumbs up, shooting you an approving smile. "It's nice to see you just going along with him when he does that."

You shrug as you wave your hand dismissively. "He's always been like that..." You trail off when you see Tadashi send you a knowing look.

"Maybe, maybe not?" He taps his chin in wonder before he chuckles at your puzzled expression. "Though it's nice to see that he brought out a new expression on your face."

It startles you a little to hear him say that, blinking slowly as you processed the information. "...New expression?"

"Mhm." He hums as a response before he scratches the back of his head, looking around the two of you. "Hey...do you need someone to wait with you?"

You're pulled from your thoughts when he asks you a question, shaking your head at his offer. "Oh! No need, thank you for your concern though." Pointing at his bag, you continue. "Plus, your parents might need those right away."

Tadashi still looks unconvinced and you sigh until you notice Oikawa in the distance. "That's Tōru-kun over there so I won't keep you any longer." You watch as he turns around to clarify that Oikawa was coming.

"...Alright." Tadashi takes his leave, waving you goodbye as he did so. "See you tomorrow!"

You give him a wave of your own before you attention is brought to Oikawa's figure that gets progressively closer at a faster speed than you expected.

"...Were you running?"

"Wasn't that Tadashi?" Oikawa glanced in the direction Tadashi had gone in, ignoring your question.

"Yeah, I ran into him while I was waiting." You quirked your brow at Oikawa's actions. "What did you need to get?"

Oikawa gives you a long scrutinizing look before he lets out a resigned sigh, motioning you to close your eyes and hold out your hands. You comply with him, following his instructions.

"You better not be messing with me," you warn him, your eyes still closed. You hear him chuckle at you along with the sound of a crinkling plastic bag.

"Isn't that something you say before you let down your guard?" His teasing tone was loud and clear, and if your eyes were open you would have rolled them by now.

Sighing at him, you respond. "I trust you."

The crinkling stops as you hear him let out a deep sigh. "...Oh you're good." The noise starts up again after a moment passes, stopping once you feel something in your hands. Just from the feel of it you could already guess what you had just received.

"Okay, open~"

You blink down at the volleyball placed in your hands before you turn to Oikawa's expectant gaze, observing if you liked the present. You chuckle despite the situation, making Oikawa's brows furrow.

It was to be expected really. He is a volleyball dork after all.

Gripping the volleyball in your hands, you give Oikawa your brightest smile. "I love it." You bit your cheek in thought as you processed your following words before you continued. "I hope this means you'll teach me more?"

Not being able to say more, your face is muffled in his chest a second later as he hugs you tightly to him. "Yeah...!" His words are soft, almost breathless from the relief that you liked his present. "Happy belated birthday."

You start squirming in the hug to indicate that it was time for him to get off but Oikawa just tightens the hug even further. "...Not yet," he mumbles quietly, his head resting against yours.

Sighing, you free one of your hands and poke his side, making him jump. "Tōru-kun...Maybe give the hug after I put the volleyball away."

After you clarified the reason as to why he should let go, he complies, removing you from his grasp and giving your space back as you put the volleyball away. You shoot him a hard stare when he starts coming closer to you, preparing himself for another hug after the volleyball was back in the shopping bag.

"You said after!" Oikawa whines as he tries to step closer when you back away from him.

You keep backing away from him. "That doesn't mean right after. It could be tomorrow, the day after that, a week from now, maybe a month..."

He pouts at your logic, stopping in his tracks before letting out a resigned sigh. "Fine. I'll walk you home then."

~~

The walk home was its usual peaceful silence until Oikawa broke it with a pondering thought.

"Hey, your expression nowadays..." He trails off, glancing at you.

You raise your brow at his vague statement. "What's wrong with my expressions?" It's been twice today that it has been mentioned and you were curious of the faces that brought such attention.

Oikawa immediately raises his hands in defense. "No, not like that!" He drops it as his voice takes on a more subdued tone. "Hey...Did you meet any new people recently?"

"Hm?" Your brows scrunch in thought. More often than not, you spent the most time with Oikawa. "Why do you ask?"

He lets out a mix between a frustrated sigh and a whine. "You can't see it yourself?"

"Well no, that's why I'm asking." At this point both of you guys had finally arrived at your home, standing at the front of your house. You place your hands on your hips and give him an expectant stare, waiting for him to elaborate.

Oikawa glances away from you as he looks to the side, his fingers combing through his hair. "You look like...like a girl in love."

You unconsciously take a sharp intake of air and successfully choke on your spit at his words. The statement was surprising and you didn't expect it to come out of Oikawa's mouth. You wave off Oikawa's hand when he tries to pat your back and look down, feeling your face creep up with warmth.

For you to react so strongly to his statement could only mean...

It's silent for a moment as you try to get your bearings and Oikawa's hand dangles back at his side. You're still facing the ground as you hear him let out a chuckle. "Hmm, did you find out you like someone?"

You don't notice his eyes widen as you begin to get even more flushed at his question, not responding to him.

"Hah~ I guess I was right." Oikawa reaches for the top of your head and ruffles your hair before he ends it off with a light pat, successfully making you look up at him again. "Don't mind it, it's a nice look for you~" He pokes your nose lightly and gives you a playful wink.

You could only stare blankly at him as he gives you his broad smile, your words catching in your throat.

"Ah look at the time~ I better run to catch the last train! See you tomorrow!" He parts with a strange smile and a wave before he walks off, leaving you with the answer you've been searching for.